Wajir: A tale of one county, two governors

Wajir’s newly sworn-in governor Ahmed Ali Muktar yesterday told off his impeached former boss Mohamed Abdi Mohamud, who insists he is still the county’s chief.

In a message to Mr Mohamud, Mr Muktar clarified there was no vacuum in Wajir and he, together with all the other leaders in the county, would not let tension, chaos and divisions disrupt development. 

“My focus is not on politics; expectations are high from the Wajir people who want me to deliver services to them. We appeal to him (former governor Ali Mohamud) to come on board as a citizen of the county and help us serve the people,” he said.

He was accompanied by several leaders from Wajir County including Ahmed Bashane (Tarbaj MP), Mohamed Mohamed (Wajir South), Ahmed Abdisaalan (Wajir North), Adan Keynan (Aldas), Rashid Kassim (Wajir East),  Ahmed Kholosh (Wajir West), nominated MP Nasri Sahal, Environment Chief Administrative Secretary Mohamed Elmi and several MCAs.

All the leaders at the press briefing held at a hotel in Nairobi read from the same script, saying the only thing Wajir needed was development and better services.

The new county boss expressed his disappointment with the previous administration, which he accused of focusing on misplaced priorities at the expense of the people of Wajir.

He said Health services had been crippled, with medics not going to work over “small issues that any county government could easily solve”.

“I had worked for three-and-a-half years with my former boss. I gave him time to deliver, unfortunately, he did not and he was resultantly removed from office. We do not want such a thing to happen again,” Mr Muktar said.

He acknowledged that Mr Muhamud had petitioned the Supreme Court on his impeachment and said his administration would wait patiently for the judgment to be made.

“We know he has gone to court and the issue is with the Chief Justice, but while that continues, I want everyone to know that Wajir County is moving forward. It has a governor and there is no vacuum. There will be no politics, but service delivery,” Governor Muktar said.

With an annual budget allocation of more than Sh10 billion, the new governor wondered how his former boss could only manage to dig 20 boreholes in the entire county yet water is one of the county’s biggest problems.

Mr Elmi said the previous administration had presided over the collapse of systems, claiming several businesspeople had been frustrated by the ousted governor.

“Several projects were underway but no payment was ever made. It was not only our economic system that was destroyed but also our entire social fabric. The county suffered from poor management. I urge former governor Mohamud to give the county peace,” he said.

Mr Keynan said all the leaders from the county, including MPs, MCAs and senators, were fully behind the new governor and urged residents to maintain peace and not allow anyone to incite them to violence.

As Mr Muktar announced his plans for the county, Mr Mohamud was at another press briefing at an adjacent room at the Council of Governors’ headquarters.

Mr Mohamud maintained he was still the governor of Wajir County.

This was after a brief scuffle with anti-riot police, who had been stationed at the CoG headquarters to scuttle the impeached county boss’s briefing.

“The purported impeachment process for my removal from the office of the governor of Wajir County was initiated in violation of the law from inception… The Senate’s resolution to remove the governor was followed by a litany of well-orchestrated coup d’état tactics and manoeuvres which are known to all,” former governor Ali said.

He said stay orders issued by Justice P.J Otieno on May 18, 2021 at the Meru Court suspended the Gazette Notice issued on May 17 notifying the public of the Senate’s resolution.

“The import of these orders was that the entire findings and resolution of the Senate to remove me from Office was rendered ineffective, inapplicable and non-operational,” he said.

Mr Ndegwa Njiru, the impeached governor’s lawyer said the Senate’s wilful decision to ignore the court order tainted the entire process with illegality.

“The truth will come out in the fullness of time and we shall be vindicated. Orders issued on 18th staying the Senate’s decision to remove governor is still active thus my client remains governor,” he said.

 [email protected]