• The governor said he was not aware that his deputy’s salary had been stopped.
• Saisi admitted that the relationship between the two was “too” bad that the governor had stopped his salary since June over the county budget implementation stand-off.
Image: HILTON OTENYO
The differences between Vihiga Governor Wilber Ottichilo and his deputy Patrick Saisi played out during Senate committee sitting in the county on Friday.
Saisi admitted that the relationship between the two was “too” bad that the governor had stopped his salary since June over the county budget implementation stand-off.
“It’s a serious matter because we take children to school using the salaries. My bodyguard has refused to come to work because he’s not paid a salary and my life is in danger,” he said.
Saisi said he raised a red flag over the legality of the county's 2021-22 budget in a letter he wrote to county assembly speaker Hazna Mudeizi on May 3, since it had not been approved by the county cabinet as required by law.
But Ottichilo said Saisi should have walked to his office and engaged him if he had an issue with the budget instead of writing him a letter.
The governor said he was not aware that his deputy’s salary had been stopped.
“My deputy doesn’t talk to me. Instead, he runs around to radio stations. What do you do with such a person? He has not told me that he is not being paid,” Ottichilo said.
The governor expressed fear that the court case over the budget may take longer and affect normal operations by the county.
The two leaders spoke during a sitting of the joint Senate committee on devolution and finance held at Sosa Cottages in the county on Friday.
The meeting followed a petition to the Senate by Vihiga Senator George Khaniri on the suspension of the implementation of the country's 2021-22 budget.
Senators Rose Nyamunga, Faziah Ali and Cleophas Malala attended the meeting physically, while Bungoma Senator Moses Wetang’ula and his Homa Bay counterpart Moses Kajwang attended via zoom.
Malala said the Senate will adjudicate the matter if it was true that his salary had been stopped.
"These are just signs of what staff at the county government of Vihiga are going through,” he said.
Activist Joseph Simekha and former county secretary Francis Ominde have sued the county government over the legality of the budget, seeking stoppage of its implementation.
They argue that the budget passed by the assembly was illegal because the county cabinet lacked the quorum to approve the budget, since four of the CECs had been impeached.
The two have initiated a collection of signatures to suspend the Vihiga county government over what they term as gross violations of the Constitution.
Malala asked Ottichilo and his opponents to find a harmonious way of working together and stop embarrassing themselves in public.
He said the issues in the budget-making process were procedural and could be addressed amiably.
But Ottichilo insisted that those who have gone to court should first withdraw the case before they can talk and agree.
The governor accused Saisi of sharing official county government documents with strangers.
Nyamunga, who chaired the session, said the committee will write its report and present it to the Senate after hearing both sides.
Ottichilo and Saisi have been at loggerheads for some time now. Saisi has declared that he will challenge Ottichilo next year.
Ottichilo has been accusing Saisi of sponsoring those fighting his administration.
Edited by A.N