Wajir Governor Abdullahi elected new Council of Governors chair

Wajir Governor, Ahmed Abdullahi has been elected as the new chairperson of the Council of Governors, replacing his Kirinyaga counterpart, Anne Waiguru, whose tenure ended after serving two terms at the helm of the county bosses’ governing body. 

This election happened briefly before the delivery of the State of Devolution address at the Safari Park Hotel, Nairobi on Monday. Nyeri County boss, Mutahi Kahiga will now be the deputy CoG chairperson effectively filling the spot previously occupied by Governor Abdullahi. 

The race for the new CoG boss was a tight one bringing in five governors including Nairobi’s Johnson Sakaja, Kajiado’s Joseph Ole Lenku, Mr Abdullahi (Wajir), Kahiga (Nyeri) as well as Muthomi Njuki ( Tharaka Nithi). 

Ms Waiguru, while delivering her last State of Devolution address, said the counties had made significant strides in several sectors including health, education, tourism, and energy, in the past year. 

However, the National Treasury did not disburse the full Sh385.4 billion as expected in the equitable share allocation for 2023/2024, but instead disbursed some Sh354.6 billion, which was eight per cent short of the expected amount. 

The targeted Sh46.36 billion classified as additional allocations from the national government and development partners was not met with only Sh29.07 billion being received by the counties.