Knut to replace officials nominated to Otuoma cabinet

The Kenya National Union of Teachers will hold elections in its Teso branch before the end of 2022 to elect the chairperson and secretary.

This followed the nomination of Knut Teso branch chairman Paul Olunga Ekweny and secretary Olakacuna Omuse by Governor Paul Otuoma as chief executives.

The election is, however, dependent on whether the county assembly will approve the nomination of the two.

Their nomination was declared by the governor on Monday, when he announced a list of 10 nominees to be vetted by the county assembly.

Olunga told the Star on Tuesday the elections to replace Omuse and him will be held either in November or December, when the union holds its Annual General Meeting.

The former branch chairman was nominated to head the Sport, Culture and Social Services docket and Omuse to the Trade, Industry, Investment and Cooperatives docket.

The two may join former Knut Teso branch treasurer Joseph Eseme, who quit the union to join politics.

Eseme successfully vied for the Angurai South ward MCA race during the August 9 general election on the DAP-K  ticket.

Other nominees picked by Otuoma to steer his administration for the next five years included Deputy Governor Arthur Odera(chief executive in charge of Water, Irrigation and Natural Resources) and Topister Wanyama (Finance, ICT and Economic Planning docket).

Others are Peter Odima expected to oversee operations at the Lands, Housing and Urban Development department, Beatrice Nakholi (Health and Sanitation) and Andrew Nakitare (Public Service Administration and Gender).

Nakholi was defeated during the ODM nominations, when she sought to vie for the Busia woman representative seat to succeed Florence Mutua, who had set her eyes on the governorship.

Also on the list are Pamela Awuor(Education and Vocational Training), Siplicious Mukok (Agriculture, Livestock Fisheries, Climate Change, Blue Economy and Agribusiness) and Andrew Meso (Transport, Public works and Energy).

The governor, at the same time, picked a team of four officers as advisers on critical matters.

They include former deputy county commissioner Solomon Abwaku (Public Administration and Human Resource Management and Melsa Namangale (Economic Affairs).

Laurence Kuchio (Legal Affairs) and Mohammed Noor Ali (Head of Political guidance and Minority Affairs).

Otuoma also appointed Innocent Omboko, an Advocate of the High Court to serve as the county attorney.

The names of the nominees have been forwarded to the county assembly for vetting and approval before being given the green light to serve.

Otuoma, when making the announcement confirmed that the list of chief officers will be out in less than a month’s time.

The governor’s main challenger during the August 9 general elections, John Bunyasi has, however, criticised the list of nominated chief executives.

Bunyasi on Tuesday said the governor did not focus on nominating technocrats who he said may have helped him steer development in the county.

“A county’s foundation built while negating the importance of technocrats is a house on quicksand and bound to collapse,” the former Nambale MP said on his official social media page.

(Edited by Tabnacha O)