Wambora picked as CoG chairperson to replace Oparanya

Wambora picked as CoG chairperson to replace Oparanya

Embu Govenor Martin Wambora is the new Council of Governors chair.

County chiefs on Friday , through a consensus, picked Wambora to replace Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya who served his two maximum terms.

They further picked Kisii Governor James Ongwae to be the vice chairperson.

Ongwae had been serving as the chair of the Human Resource committee at CoG.

There were reports that President Uhuru would throw his weight behind a governor who supports the BBI process to succeed Oparanya.

The CoG chairmanship is a powerful post that serves as a link between the county governments and the national Executive.

The chairperson serves as the voice of the county governments and has a lot of privileges, including a stand-by chopper funded by taxpayers through the council’s secretariat.

Makueni Governor Kivutha Kibwana, whose name had been fronted as one of the top contenders to succeed Oparanya said he had bowed out of the race because he had interest in the presidency.

“I will not be a candidate for Council of Governors elections. As a 2022 presidential candidate, I have been advised by my team that serving in the next CoG executive can constitute a conflict of interest,” he said on Tuesday.

Kibwana said he was grateful to his colleagues for the opportunity to serve as their Chief Whip.