Governor Nanok dispels talk of fresh poll

The Council of Governors will not hold fresh election following the addition of new members after the August 8 General Election.

Council chairman and Turkana Governor Josphat Nanok said the current leaders will continue to serve until next year when new leaders would be chosen.

“We have no plans to hold elections any time soon since the current office bearers are in office until next year.

"There is therefore no vacuum in the council occasioned by the election,” Mr Nanok said.

JUBILEE
Governor Nanok clarified that in their meeting held on Thursday, they did not discuss the election of council officials.

“It is still too early to discuss matters related to elections. We will cross that bridge when we get there,” he said.

Mr Nanok was reacting to a move by Jubilee Party to front Kwale Governor Salim Mvurya to take over at the council.

On Thursday, President Uhuru Kenyatta said Jubilee will support Mr Mvurya for the position.

“Do not make the Council of Governors a venue for competition. Make it truly a venue for developing issues for consultation,” he told Jubilee governors.

WINNER
Mr Nanok was elected on May 22 to take over from Mr Peter Munya, the former Meru Governor.

In the August 8 poll, Mr Nanok of ODM garnered 73,232 votes to beat his main rival John Munyes of Jubilee who got 52,572 votes.

He recently announced he was ready to work with the Jubilee government

“The Turkana County Government will work with the government that is legitimately elected,” Nanok said on August 16, 2017.

DEVOLUTION
He lauded the electoral commission for what he termed as free and fair elections but added there were several technical and logistical challenges.

“While we’ve made some progress, we are going to push hard and aggressively move things forward. I will do all that is within my power to push the devolution agenda forward,” he said.

He hailed the work of his predecessors as exemplary, and vowed to continue the good work they did in entrenching devolved governance in the country.

NURSES
Mr Nanok however maintained a hardline stance against striking nurses, terming their strike illegal.

He faulted the nurses for bolting out of discussions over the contentious CBA, saying their move was in bad faith.

“As a matter of fact, the nurses’ strike is illegal. It is notable that they went on strike while the negotiations on their CBA were taking place,” he said.

SALARIES
Mr Nanok, who gave the nurses seven days to resume work, assured them that negotiations for their CBA would be finalised.

“The CBA as demanded by nurses cannot be implemented in its current form,” he said of the document the salary commission disputed.

He noted that failure to resume work by the nurses would see them sacked and thereafter the counties will advertise their positions.

He added that going forward, the council would engage nurses on contract terms.