Governor Nyaribo taps former MP Gesami to be his deputy

Nyamira governor Amos Nyaribo on Wednesday appointed former West Mugirango MP James Gesami as his deputy.

He also unveiled his 10-member cabinet, maintaining some executives who served in the late John Nyagarama’s government.

Mr Nyaribo said the executives will be vetted by the Nyamira County Assembly before they are confirmed for the positions they have been nominated to serve.

Emily Moraa (Finance), Peris Mong’are (Agriculture), Samuel Maiko (Lands), Jones Omwenga (Roads), Thomas Nyariki (Public Service Management), Thomas Ondieki (Environment), Stephen Onwonga (Trade), Grace Nyamongo (Gender and Sports), Harisson Momanyi Education) and Gladys Momanyi (Health) have been nominated as executives.

Mr Nyaribo said many people had expressed their interest for the deputy governor position.

“The position attracted over 70 contenders,” said Mr Nyaribo.

Mr Gesami is a member of the Orange party and was elected to represent the West Mugirango Constituency in the National Assembly of Kenya in 2007. He served for two terms.

He unsuccessfully vied for the Nyamira governor seat in 2017 as an independent candidate. This is after he lost in the ODM nominations to the late Nyagarama. 

The soft-spoken politician also served as an assistant minister in the ministry of health during President Mwai Kibaki's tenure. 

The announcement by Mr Nyaribo ends speculation by Nyamira residents who are eagerly waiting to see how their new governor performs. 

This is because he highly criticised his boss, Nyagarama, when he served as his deputy. 

Mr Nyaribo took the oath of office a week ago. 

This is after the death of Nyagarama about three weeks ago. He succumbed to Covid-19 complications.