Simon Kachapin sacks county secretary and executives

West Pokot Governor Simon Kachapin has made good his threat to crack down on non-performing executives by sacking the county secretary and three other top executives.

Mr Kachapin also shuffled his Cabinet due to what he termed as officials' “incompetence and poor service delivery”.

The governor’s hammer fell on Monday after a public outcry and demands by West Pokot County Assembly members that he move to root out incompetent officials.

In his statement to journalists, the county boss said he fired County Secretary Joel Arimonyang and executives Catherine Mukenyang (Health and Sanitation), Luka Chepelion (Roads) and Josiah Cheruiyot (Livestock and Fisheries) because they had “failed in their duties.”

PUBLIC HAD COMPLAINED

“We need people who can deliver services to the people of West Pokot. There is no room for laxity and every county employee must deliver without fail,” he said.

“I have taken the decision after the public complained much about the four.”

Mr Kachapin also directed the County Public Service Board to advertise, recruit and fill the position of County Secretary immediately.

During the Madaraka Day celebrations on June 1, the governor promised to sack lazy and corrupt county officers.

The sackings, he said, were informed by "mid-term evaluation of the county government’s performance.”

MINISTRIES MERGED

In the Cabinet changes, Mr Kachapin integrated the Public Services docket into to the Ministry of Education and ICT “to strengthen service delivery to the County Assembly”, creating a larger ministry if Education, ICT and Public Administration.

Mr David Alekulim is the new executive in charge of the expanded ministry, whose chief officer will be recruited by the County Public Service Board.

The governor established a new ministry of Inter-Government Co-ordination, Peace-Building and Disaster Management.

“I have established the ministry following the recent skirmishes and emergencies such as hunger, fire, drought, lightning and floods,” he said.

The ministry will be managed by Deputy Governor Titus Lotee.

NEW POSITIONS

Mr Kachapin sought to strengthen co-ordination of service delivery by introducing the position of Deputy County Secretary, who will work closely with the County Secretary.

The changes also saw the creation of the ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation which comprises the former separate ministries of Agriculture and Irrigation on one hand and Livestock, Veterinary Services and Fisheries on the other.

The county boss also created two new positions in the ministry of Health and Sanitation, namely Director of Medical Services and Director of Public Health and Sanitation “to strengthen the effective administration and management of health services.”

Mr Joel Ng’olekong, who is the Finance and Economic Planning executive, will hold the health docket in an acting capacity.

Mr Kachapin directed the “investigation of and subsequent disciplinary action” against chief officers H. Lumasya, Michael Mureithi, George Alwai an Eliud Sirorei.