Wajir governor in the soup for ‘ceding authority to wife’
Wajir Governor Mohammed Abdi Mohamud.
For the second time in eight months, Wajir Governor Mohamed Abdi Mohamud is finding himself in trouble with MCAs, once again, filing a motion to impeach him.
At least 34 ward reps have signed the motion sponsored by Tulatula MCA Abdullahi Isack, who accuses Mr Mohamud of corruption, gross misconduct and abuse of office.
Mr Mohamud county is accused of delegating power to his wife Kheira Omar, say the papers.
“The governor has allowed his wife to literally run county affairs as the de facto authority. He ceremoniously officiates and signs off where necessary for decisions she unilaterally makes based on her own wishes and judgment without due regard to any law,” Mr Isack said.
He added: “It is an open secret in Wajir County and far beyond its borders that Mrs Kheira Omar is the ‘supreme leader’ of the county and it is always her way or the highway. This has brought ridicule and disrepute to the Office of the Governor”.
Expenditure reports
The governor is also on the spot for allegedly failing to provide quarterly expenditure reports in violation of the Public Finance Management Act, 2012.
Mr Isack also accuses the governor of incurring “unsustainable debts and other pending obligations to the tune of Sh2 billion” . The governor also stands accused of failing to draft the medium-term strategy for the 2020/2021 financial year.
Lack of plan, Mr Isack adds, puts the county “in a precarious financial position as it will have no budget to run its affairs which may lead to protracted and costly court battles with creditors eventually auctioning off county assets.”
The MCA accuses the governor of not seeking approval of payments out of the emergency fund for the last three financial years. Instead he “frustrates the assembly’s effort to enforce compliance”.
The county’s Disaster Management Act allows the governor through the Finance executive to establish an emergency fund, make payments out of it where necessary and seek approval of the assembly within two months of making such payments.
The governor will have to defend himself against claims of awarding tenders and contracts irregularly when he appears before the assembly committee on Wednesday next week.
He will also have to explain why he has reshuffled chief officers in the Finance docket six times in two years.
Public demand
Reached for comment, assembly Speaker Ibrahim Yakub confirmed receiving impeachment motion.
“It meets the legal requirements. It will have to go through the normal process,” he said.
Assembly Minority Leader Abdi Hussein said the ouster bid was due to public demand. “Anybody living in Wajir knows the cries of the masses and that there was public demand for us to take action,” he said.
Last August, a similar motion was dropped following a truce brokered by elders between the executive and the assembly. The MCAs accuse Mr Mohamud of reneging on the agreement.
“The governor has failed to hold up his end of the bargain. Now we have no option but to send him packing,” Mr Isack said.
