I'll be Barasa's co-governor, not deputy – Savula

Lugari MP Ayub Savula has said he will be co-governor of Kakamega ODM governor candidate Fernandes Barasa and not his deputy if they win the election.

He said he and Barasa agreed to share the county government equally.

“The county government of Kakamega has 10 departments. Barasa will take five and I will take five. I’m not a deputy governor but a co-governor,” Savula said.

He was addressing a campaign rally at Lunyito market in Lugari ward on Sunday.

Savula, the DAP-K deputy leader, accepted to deputise Barasa after weeks of negotiations in which they agreed to share the government equally if they win.

Barasa is facing off with six other candidates. They are ANC’s Cleophas Malala, Cyrus Jirongo (UDP), Samuel Omukoko (MDP), Suleiman Sumba (Kanu), lawyer Michael Osundwa and Optiso Otieno (independent).

Pundits say Savula is trying to shed the deputy governor's tag to counter Jirongo's drive to succeed Governor Wycliffe Oparanya. Both Jirongo and Savula come from the northern region.

Political scientist Prof Amukowa Anangwe termed the remarks by Savula as self-consolation and delusional of his imagination that will never be.

He said Savula is trying to save face because he had aspired to be governor but the reality is that he will not be and want to satisfy his ego by imagining that he will not be deputy governor.

“The Constitution does not contemplate the position of a co-governor. It is clear that there shall be a governor as the head of the executive arm and a deputy as his principal assistant,” he said.

Regional balance is one of the factors that will determine the outcome of the Kakamega race.

Oparanya, who has held the seat for 10 years comes from the southern region as Barasa.

Edited by A.N