The Trans Nzoia Magazine

GOVERNMENT WARNED AGAINST YIELDING TO ATTEMPTS BY MPS TO EXTEND THEIR TERM

A former Mayor of Kitale and current councilor at the Kitale Municipal council has warned that playing games with the dates of the upcoming elections was a recipe for violence, across the country. Councillor, Joshua Werunga was speaking during this year’s full council meeting where the agenda of the day was elections of various committee chairpersons. He said that the country was ripe for elections and was not willing to be tossed over and over by the MPs, whom he termed as fearful of the electorate. 

The elections were basically meant to reaffirm the current office holders given that by the end of business all the sitting chairmen/persons of various committees were unanimously retained. The spirit of the new constitution was also not left unattended in the elections. Two women councilors namely Cllr. Janet Nangabo and Cllr. Violet Chemosit were voted in unopposed to occupy the positions of Town planning and Audit Committees respectively. Others elected include, Cllr. Peter Waswa, of Finance and General purpose committee, Cllr. John Tenge for Education, Cllr. Herbart Wambaya for social Services and Housing and lastly Cllr. Were Obingo for Public Health and Environment.

This year’s elections were devoid of the fanfare and usual jostling sometimes becoming chaotic as has been the norm in many council elections across the country. Security was tight, with visible and plain cloth police officers standing hawk eyed at every exit. The clerk of the Municipal council Mr. Rashid Rashid Mwakiwiwi together with his worship the Mayor of the council, Cllr. Charles Bonyo was jointly the presiding officers. 

The mayor, while making his closing remarks reminded the elected civic leaders that there were no winners or losers, only leaders bequeathed bigger responsibilities to show forth their worth.  His sentiments were echoed by the clerk who intimated to all the leaders and chief officers that the work lying ahead was not only enormous but urgent. He narrated to them that even though some of the roads maintenance activities in town were taken over by the government, the Kitale CBD roads were in deplorable conditions and needed immediate recourse. 

These are the last of such elections under the current constitution. After the next general elections, the position of Municipal councils will be scrapped and replaced with a much bigger entity known as the county governments..