Baringo governor Benjamin Cheboi tasked with nominating deputy
Baringo Governor Benjamin Cheboi has been tasked with nominating his number two following the sudden death of Deputy Governor Charles Kipng’ok on September 14, 2022.
The Supreme Court judges in 2018 issued guidance on how to fill the Deputy Governor vacancy, ruling that governors will be allowed to do fresh nominations within 14 days to replace their deputies who resign, die in office or are impeached.
The nominees will then have to be approved by County Assemblies within 60 days and successful appointees then take the oath of office before starting off.
It also directs that the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) shall not conduct a separate election for the Deputy Governor but shall declare the candidate nominated by the person who is elected county governor to have been elected as the Deputy Governor.
However, a section of the Baringo Tugen council of elders together with a number of area Members of County Assembly (MCAs) have called upon governor Cheboi to consider appointing one of the family members to replace the county deputy governor.
Speaking while conveying their condolences at the late Kipng’ok Solian home in Eldama Ravine, the chair of Tugen council of elders William Cherambos cited that it was wise if one of his eldest sons be installed to the seat once the burial is through.
Cherambos quoted a proverb that says, if a house razes down, the owners do not need to move out, but instead rebuild.
He together with the area MCAs Lawi Kipchumba and Julius Ngoite however reached a consensus and endorsed the former deputy’s son Felix Kipng’ok to take after his father in leading the people of Baringo.
“If a house razes down, the owners don’t have to quit but instead, tasked with rebuilding the house, we are here today because a house has razed down, we are not quitting rather, we’re endorsing a leader right from his children, Eng Felix Kipng’ok is equal to the task and all we ask is the county governor to seal it by nominating him,” Cherambos noted.
Kipchumba echoed the sentiments made by Cherambos, insisting that the endorsed son is equal to the task, exuding confidence that he would deliver the very best in his tenure.
Kipng’ok, who was Baring Deputy Governor for only three weeks after his swearing-in alongside his boss, died at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) after developing breathing complications while preparing to board a Kenya Airways aircraft to Mombasa ahead of a Council of Governors' induction workshop.
The late Kipng’ok is set to be laid to rest on September 24 at his home in Solian.
Preliminary reports have it that the same date of his burial had earlier on, before his demise, been set for a thanksgiving ceremony at his ancestral home in Emom.
Relatives and locals in the county have described him as a generous man and that he always supported the well-being of his community through development projects.
