Wajir governor Ahmed Abdullahi has been elected as the new chairperson of the Council of Governors replacing outgoing chairperson and Kirinyaga governor Ann Waiguru.
Abdullahi was elected chairman during the CoG ordinary meeting held at the Safari park hotel. He will be deputized by Nyeri governor Mutahi Kahiga who was elected the deputy chairman of CoG.
Abdullahi was elected from a list of at least four other candidates who had all expressed their interest in the seat, including Kahiga.
Other governors who had submitted their candidature for the position include Tharaka Nithi governor Muthomi Njuki, Joseph Ole Lenku (Kajiado) and Nairobi governor Johnson Sakaja.
During the meeting, governors also discussed and considered the new health plan – Social Health Insurance Fund and its rollout in counties.
The county bosses had previously expressed dissatisfaction for what they termed as sidelining by the national government.
The Council of Governors is a non-partisan organisation that comprises of governors of the 47 counties and was established under Section 19 of the Intergovernmental Relations Act of 2012.
And while the outfit has largely remained apolitical, previous office holders have often used their position and influence to challenge key government decisions and policies such as resource allocation, distribution of functions, government appointments among other issues.
The position has also been seen as an influential and an important position by the executive in mobilising and rallying for support around various issues and policies by the government, including the mobilization of support and resources at the grassroots during campaigns.
Previous office holders of the position such as former governors Isaac Ruto of Bomet, Peter Munya of Meru, Wycliffe Oparanya of Kakamega and others, have also used the seat to advance their political ambitions including campaigning for presidential candidates during elections.
Some of the previous CoG chairpersons include governors Ruto who held the seat between 2013-2025, Munya (2015-2017), Josephat Nanok (2017-2019), Oparanya (2019-2021), Martin Wambora (2021-2022) and the current chairperson Ann Waiguru who has held the position since 2022.
Presently, the CoG is responsible for functions such as the promotion of visionary leadership, sharing of best practices and a mandate to offer a collective voice on policy issues.
The outfit is also responsible for the promotion of inter – county consultations, the encouragement and initiation of information sharing on the performance of county governments with regard to the execution of their functions and collective consultation on matters of interest to county governments.
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