HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept
{
"id": 695049,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/695049/?format=api",
"text_counter": 1180,
"type": "other",
"speaker_name": "",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "At some point she just said: “Governor,, let me go away.” I told her: “Thank you very much, you have done a fairly good job. We will see how to manage.” Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, when that situation happened, my options were that the most senior position in government is that of a county secretary and the next one is that a chief officer. Therefore, I did not have much choice in choosing the county secretary; it had to be more or less among the chief officers currently working in the county. To ensure that work and service delivery continued in the county, I had to consult the County Public Service Board for assistance in getting a person who would coordinate of the services of the county. The name of a lady, Alice Wachira, came up and I was told confidentially why she was being suggested. It was because prior to her appointment as acting county secretary, she was the chief officer for administration. In that particular docket, she was doing a lot of coordination work among the other dockets. Therefore, assuming that all of them were equal, because of the aspect of coordination, I thought that she would be good in terms of coordinating work within the county, as we seek for a substantive appointment to that position. Immediately she came into office the heat started. It is not about the person, but the office of the county secretary. In my view, this particular lady is made of a different mettle from the one who left. She took her work very seriously and stood up to some of these Members of County Assembly (MCAs). It is in that standing up, taking positions and being uncompromising that a lot of bad blood developed between her and the MCAs. Obviously, as the Governor of Nyeri, it is in my interest and that of the people of Nyeri that we render services in an atmosphere that is conducive, good and peaceful. Therefore, it is imperative that this position be taken up because if there is too much heat in that office, it will not be good for rendering of services. We are in the process of filling that position substantively. One of the Members asked how long I will take to do so. I will take as short a time as possible. However, let us take notice that because of all this heat generated in Nyeri for the last couple of months, we may run into challenges. We will try our best. As of now, in terms of performance, coordinating activities of the County Government of Nyeri, I am satisfied that she is doing a good job. She is not confirmed, because obviously for now with that blood she is unlikely to be confirmed in that County Assembly, she is doing a fairly good job until we fill that position. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to admit that, that is the job I sought. The Governor’s job as we are learning, is not easy. It is a job that requires decisions to be made on a day to day basis however unpopular they might be. In the course of doing that job, there is friction in Nyeri because I drive a tight ship. That is how I can explain what is happening with the County Executive Committee (CEC) members. I started with ten CECs in ten dockets. As we moved on, at my level of chairing the Executive Committee, I realized that two or three of those CECs were baggage to the County Government. Indeed, I had to offload them. I would rather work with six hardworking and efficient officers than have ten just to be keep a cabinet of ten members. However, they went to court when they were removed from the Cabinet. They were in court for a long time arguing that their jobs were protected and so on, irrespective of whether they were working or not. As we were arguing in court, we had been injuncted by the High Court in Nyeri, not to fill those positions until the matter was heard and determined. That took a bit of time. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}