- Mburu argues Nyoro has not been appointed as acting governor under any law
- He says Nyoro publicly fell out with Waititu and his action is informed by malice
A Kiambu resident has moved to court challenging Deputy Governor James Nyoro’s decision to reshuffle the cabinet.
Bernard Chege Mburu argues that Nyoro has not been appointed as acting governor under any law.
He has sued the DG and the county attorney. Governor Ferdinand Waititu and executives Francis Njenga and Wilson Kang'ethe are listed as interested parties.
Mburu claims on September 6, Nyoro published in the Kenya Gazette a notice purporting to effect a re-assignment of the county executive committee members in charge of finance and economic planning and that of trade, tourism, cooperatives and enterprise development by swapping them.
Article 179(5) of the Constitution allows a deputy governor to exercise the powers of the governor in their absence, but Section 30(4) and (5) of the County Government Act prohibits the DG from re-organising or disturbing the structure of the county government.
Mburu says on August 20, the Kiambu county lawyer gave an advisory stating that the DG did not have powers to re-assign CECs.
“DG Nyoro is purporting to exercise powers that he does not have it in law and the unlawful acts are a recipe for untold chaos in Kiambu county as they do not have the blessings of the governor who is likely to revise them immediately or in future,” the application reads.
The petitioner argues that Nyoro, not being the appointing authority, logically he has no authority to dismiss or re-assign officers appointed by the governor with requisite vetting and approval of the county assembly.
“The illegal acts of the DG will create a stalemate that will gravely affect service delivery to the people of Kiambu especially as one of the dockets affected is finance,” he argues.
He claims voters in Kiambu voted for a governor who they expect to deliver services to them while the deputy governor is a nominee of the governor.
He further alleges it is in the public domain that the DG fell out with the governor and his impugned action is informed by malice, ego and vendetta.
Mburu says the CECs were interviewed before nomination and vetted by the county assembly before appointment and found to qualify for the specific dockets they were appointed for.
“Reshuffling them is both unlawful as sell as a smack to the principles of good governance as no process has been undertaken to ascertain the affected CECs are fit, competent and have capacity to execute the new mandate,” he adds.
Mburu says Nyoro's decision if allowed to the stand would set a dangerous precedent as deputy governors would usurp the authority of governors every time the later are either sick or temporarily away.