Bungoma County Assembly Speaker retains seat

Bungoma County Assembly speaker has been re-elected for a second term.

Soysambu Ward MCA Stephen Wamalwa who was elected as Deputy Speaker towards the tail end of the Second County Assembly was also given a fresh mandate.

Situma garnered 33 votes against his counterpart former Khalaba MCA Majimbo Okumu in the first round.

Former Khalaba ward rep Majimbo Okumu came second with 26 votes, Noel Nyongesa garnered 2 votes while Phyllis Namachanja got zero.

Only Situma and Majimbo proceeded to the second round of the vote.

In the second round of voting, Situma got 37 votes with Majimbo getting 24 votes.

 Situma was subsequently declared the winner by the Acting County Assembly Clerk Charles Wafula who administered the oath of office to him before the assembled members of the county assembly.

Situma then took his seat as Speaker and presided over the election of Deputy Speaker.

In the deputy speaker’s contest, Wamalwa garnered 36 votes in the first round against 25 votes garnered by Kaptama MCA  Francis Chemion who was challenging him for the position.

 Afterwards,  Chemion withdrew from the race before the second round of voting was undertaken to prompt the Speaker to declare Wamalwa the winner.

A total of 61 Members of the County Assembly participated in the election with 45 being elected and 16 nominated by various parties.

There is still one vacant nomination slot to be filled by the Democratic Action Party (DAP-K) due to an ongoing dispute. The Assembly has 3 members elected as Independent candidates.

While addressing the assembly in his inaugural speech on Wednesday, Situma lauded members of the county assembly for believing in him and giving him the second chance.

“I am sincerely grateful to everyone who participated in this election, this victory is yours as much as it is mine,” Situma said.

Situma said that the third County Assembly will aspire to improve on the record of the Second County Assembly which sat 494 times during which, 28 bills, 358 motions, 150 statements and 11 petitions were considered.

Situma pledged to work harmoniously with Governor Ken Lusaka to ensure service delivery in an efficient and effective manner.

He pledged to have some business that had lapsed in the Second County Assembly reintroduced and expedited.

Among the bills he pledged to be reintroduced include The Bungoma County Equitable Development Bill 2022, The Order of Precedence Bill 2022 and The Bungoma County Cultural Heritage Bill 2022, The Bungoma County State of the County Address Bill 2022 and the Bungoma Climate Change Bill, 2022.