Major fallout between Kericho Governor and his deputy a month after being sworn in

Rifts have emerged between Kericho Governor Erick Mutai and his Deputy Fred Kirui, just a month after they were sworn into office.

In a lengthy statement on Tuesday, October 4, Kirui went public to confirm to the people of Kericho that he is not happy with the manner in which his boss is running the affairs of the county.

According to Kirui, there was a pre-election agreement between him and the governor that would see them share county leadership in the ratio of 40% to 60%.

But to his dismay, he claims that Governor Mutai did not consult him in the nomination of County Executive Committee Members (CECM).

Kirui: I've been sidelined

In fact, Kirui claims that he saw an advert calling for applications for the positions of CECM and County Secretary on print media like anyone else.

This, he says, is in total disregard to the pre-election agreement. "my negotiated share of the cabinet slots in the list that has been submitted to the County Assembly for vetting is not reflected."

He says the governor has started off on the wrong foot, as his actions have caused mistrust and discomfort and has "clearly dented our working relationship."

The DG rues that all this cat and mouse games are happening at the beginning of their tenure, when they ought to have been fixing the problems plaguing Kericho County people.

Nonetheless, Kirui says that while he acknowledges the urgency needed to address issues of medical supply and equipping of hospitals, health centres and dispensaries, and provision of clean water and roads, "it is my firm belief that unless we get it right from the beginning, we are unlikely to get it right along the way."

"As leaders elected by the people to serve in different distinct capacities, we are obligated to respect and honour not only each other, but also our commitments to each other. I’ve decided to raise in public this weighty issues out of tremendous respect I have for the people of Kericho County and the leadership they’ve installed in place for the next five years, since we all need answers," he concluded his statement.