Deputy governors seek more powers

Deputy governors have demanded changes in the law to give them more powers in the running of county affairs.

They said the current system exposed them to serving at the mercy of governors, who can fire them at will.

The Constitution stipulates that a deputy governor be handpicked by his boss ahead of an election. It, however, does not assign distinct roles other than deputising the governor.

Chapter 11 of the Constitution gives no clear executive role for the deputy county bosses.

It further fails in stating out the criteria for filling up a vacant seat in case a deputy governor is impeached, unlike in the case of a governor.

Despite their almost peripheral role, article 182 of the chapter on county leadership says that the deputies should complete a governor’s term in case the latter vacates office.

GREY AREAS

The deputies now want amendments made to make their impeachment harder as well as legalise their council similar to that of governors.

Ms Evelyn Aruasa, the chairwoman of the Council of Deputy Governors, said there were a lot of grey areas that needed to be reviewed in regard to their roles and functions.

Speaking to Nation on phone yesterday, Ms Aruasa said the Constitution and the Intergovernmental Relations Act had failed to provide clear avenues of solving conflicts between them and governors.

“It makes no sense to have deputy governors who have no roles and mandate yet most of them have impressive skills that can go long way in transforming counties,” she said.

Some governors have also resorted to assigning their deputies ministerial positions owing to the constitutional gap.

In Vihiga for instance, governor Moses Akaranga appointed his deputy as county executive in charge of Lands and Urban Planning.

In Machakos, Governor Alfred Mutua had appointed the embattled Bernard Kiala as the executive committee member for Public Service, Labour and ICT before stripping him of the title on Monday.