Gumbo picked to head public accounts team

Rarieda MP Nicholas Gumbo is the new chairman of the National Assembly's Public Accounts Committee.

The ODM legislator got the backing of MPs from the Jubilee coalition, and some Cord members on the committee are understood to have defied the position of their coalition's leadership to have ODM chairman and Suba MP John Mbadi succeed Ababu Namwamba as head of the oversight committee.

Mr Gumbo garnered 12 votes against Mr Mbadi's nine.

MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING

Jackson Rop (Kipkelion West, URP) was elected by 15 MPs to the vice-chairman’s seat, which is by mutual understanding the preserve of Jubilee.

He beat Kangogo Bowen (Marakwet East, URP), who got six votes and Joseph Manje (Kajiado North, TNA), who managed five.

One member of the 27-member team was reported to be out of the country.

Mr Gumbo said the new team would get to work immediately. At the top of its pending business are ongoing investigations into the Judiciary and the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission.

“As the new leadership of the committee, we shall try what is humanly possible to bring back the reputation of the committee,” he said.

Mr Mbadi, on the other hand, downplayed the suggestion that he lost because of the perception that he would become too powerful or had lost the confidence of his ODM colleagues.

“When it comes to confidence, Cord has confidence in me, but you know some of us who are also highly opinionated are never liked by people who are on the competing side,” he said.