Homa Bay: Elected MCAs to be sworn in on Wednesday
The swearing-in ceremony of 54 Members of the Homa Bay County Assembly will take place on Wednesday, September 21, 2022, when the assembly will be convened for its first sitting.
Those who will be sworn in include the 40 elected and 14 nominated members.
The clerk of the assembly, Faith Apuko, said all preparations have been made to officially welcome the members to the house.
She also pointed out that the position of the speaker had been advertised in the Kenya gazette.
“We are well prepared, we have all documents in place as well as the standing orders which will help members in deliberations in the house. We also have the constitution, so I would say that we are good to go,” she said.
“The Governor has gazetted the first sitting next week Wednesday when we will go ahead and swear in members on the same day. We will then proceed to elect the speaker as per article 178 of the constitution,” Apuko stated.
After the speaker is sworn in, the constitution grants him the power to elect his deputy, afterwards, the house will be fully constituted to start its operations for the third assembly.
"The position of the speaker has already been advertised and we continue to get a number of applications before shortlisting candidates," she said.
She added that any MCA can apply for the position as the constitution allows them to do so.
“When you look at the advert, the qualifications of a speaker are envisioned in the constitution under article 193. It allows MCAs to contest for the house’s speaker position and one does not need a law degree or any other degree,
"As long as you have the qualifications under Article 193, then you are qualified to be a speaker," the clerk stated
On Friday, September 16, 2022, the MCAs underwent an orientation at the County Assembly building ahead of next week’s swearing-in.
In the last elections, ODM clinched 44 seats while the remaining six went to the Independent candidates.
The last Assembly faced several challenges such as corruption and physical fights due to leadership position struggles.
