Homa Bay CEC nominee rejects post, says he is unqualified

A nominee for Homa Bay County Executive Committee has declined his position after being approved by the county assembly.
The nominee for Energy, Mr Alphonse Wera, rejected the post and skipped the swearing-in ceremony that took place on Wednesday last week.

NO EXPERIENCE
Mr Wera claimed that he lacks experience to deliver services to Homa Bay residents in the Energy department.
He said he applied for the position of Trade but was appointed in the Energy department.
“Accepting to serve in a department where I lack professional qualification would undermine my integrity and disappoint the people of Homa Bay,” Mr Wera said. 

He said he was among the 10 CECs approved by the county assembly last Tuesday. The following day, only nine nominees were sworn in.

Mr Wera currently works with an international NGO based in Nairobi.

SWORN IN
The nine officials were sworn in by Homa Bay Principal Magistrate Susan Ndegwa in a ceremony presided over by Governor Cyprian Awiti, his Deputy Hamilton Orata and County Secretary Isaiah Ogwe.

The nine are Dickson Nyawinda (Water), Nicholas Koriko (Finance), Richard Muga (Health), David Okeyo (Roads), Carelus Ademba (Trade), Beatrice Ogola (Lands), Roselyn Odhiambo (Tourism), Beatrice Asiago (Education) and Aguko Juma (Agriculture).
While approving the list on Tuesday evening, Homa Bay MCAs said the nominees qualified for their positions and they wanted development works to begin in the county.

QUALIFIED
“The vetting committee found them suitable to serve in the respective positions they were nominated for,” majority leader Richard Ogindo said.

During the swearing in, Mr Awiti said he nominated the officials based on their academic and professional qualifications.
“They were picked out of a long list of more than 200 applicants. We went for work experience they had demonstrated in various fields in which they were operating before,” he said.

Mr Awiti added, “We expect the officials to prioritise the interest of this county to enable us leave a legacy by the end of our term,” he said.

SERVE
The governor urged his political opponents to stop persistent criticism and give him time to serve the residents.
“We can’t politick all the time. There are people who always want to drag our attention to politics and delay us in implementing development projects,” he said.

“We’ll not give busy bodies time since they are not interested in our commitment to deliver services to the people.”
WORK

Mr Orata warned the new officials against laxity and urged them to work as a team to deliver services.

He said the people of Homa Bay face various challenges that would be addressed well if the entire Cabinet works together.
“Taking the oath of office is different from service delivery. Performance will be the key indicator of your being in public office,” Mr Orata said.
Mr Ogwe said the CECs will sign performance contracts to help monitor how they deliver services.

“As state officers, your contract will run for 50 months. We also expect you to sign a contract on codes of conduct to ensure we have people of high integrity,” he said.