Ottichilo leaves many guessing as he mulls new cabinet

After experiencing a bumpy journey in his first term, Vihiga Governor Wilber Ottichilo has kept his cards close to his chest about his cabinet and chief officers.

Trouble in Ottichilo's administration started in 2018 after he had a falling-out with his the deputy Patrick Saisi.

Saisi accused his boss of collapsing all departments and running them under his office. He further accused the governor of not facilitating his office.

However, Ottichilo dismissed the claims, saying the deputy governor was petty.

“My DG is just being petty. Issues that he is raising should be handled by his staff at his office. For instance, when he talks of furnishing his office and fuelling of his cars, that should be dealt with by his staff,” the governor said.

“You ask me when my car is being fuelled or serviced, I can’t tell because it’s dealt with by my office staff and I am only informed when it is not there,” he added.

The governor's first term was rocked by many court battles after four executives were dismissed following their impeachment by the county assembly.

The four were Pamela Kimwele (Public Service), Amos Kutwa (Health), Paul Mbuni (Lands) and Kenneth Keseko (Trade).

Ottichilo has left many guessing on how he will play his cards to ensure he has a team that can deliver his last term agendas.

The governor is currently keen to have a team that will deal with corruption and deliver for the Vihiga people as per his manifesto.

Ottichilo was only left with five executives — Alfred Indeche (Finance), Henry Lumbasio (Education), Prof Justus Inonda (Transport and Infrastructure), Felistas Barasa (Sports) and Mary Amalemba (Environment).

Amalemba also resigned on February 9 to seek vie for woman representative seat, which she lost.

Currently, Ottichilo has a wide range of options available for him to make a team that will help him craft his legacy during his last term.

The governor might retain all the executives in his cabinet while utilising the opportunity of the five who left to reward his allies and meet regionally and tribal balance in his government.

The county boss might also consider promoting some of his chief officers to the ministerial dockets.

"The governor might consider some of his trusted chief officers who he worked well with in the first term," a source at the county who did not want to mentioned due to his position said. 

'This will remove any chances of mistrust that comes with new people who might derail his agendas in the county."

Ottichilo was sworn in with his deputy Wilberforce Kitiezo for the second term on August 25 at Kidundu stadium after being declared as the governor-elect by county returning officer Peter Tiyo.

The RO declared Ottichilo winner after garnering 82,313 votes followed by former governor Moses Akaranga with 42,432 votes.

Senator George Khaniri came third with 28,496 votes. The outgoing MP for Sabatia Alfred Agoi got 26,088 votes while Francis Ominde had 2,325 votes.

The total votes cast were 181,654 against the total registered voters of 310,063.

(edited by Amol Awuor)