Elgeyo Marakwet chief of staff Kipkoech Karamai has resigned, about five months into governor Alex Tolgos'
second term.
Karamai, a man seen as the county's 'Mr fix it’, made the surprise move on Monday afternoon.
In a statement, he said he resigned to pursue personal interests away from county government affairs, and that he had permanently retired from politics.
“After a lot of soul searching and having been in active politics for over 20 years, I have made up my mind to resign from working as the Elgeyo Marakwet governor’s adviser."
Karamai thanked Tolgos for trusting him with the work of an adviser since he was first elected in 2013.
“I believe it is time to have someone new and energetic to take over as adviser and to take our county to another level,” he said.
His resignation exposed infighting in the running of county affairs, between him and finance executive Isaac Kamar.
Sources at the executive told The Star Karamai and Kamar had sharp differences and that they had fallen out.
Iten-based political activist Wilfred Kihara told Tolgos to clarify the claims of infighting.
Kihara, who is the governor's close ally, claimed Kamar assumed duties undertaken by Karamai including hiring, firing and transferring county officials, a move that irked the chief of staff.
“We are telling Kamar to stop running county affairs like family affairs. I am asking Tolgos to come out and tell the people of Elgeyo Marakwet what is going on in his executive,” he said.
Locals led by Leonard Chelimo said they will petition the assembly to remove Kamar from office for assuming responsibilities outside his jurisdiction.
They also accused him of interfering with duties that should be handled by other county staff.