Jacob Cheboiwo of Jubilee Party will be the new Deputy Speaker (DS) for Baringo county assembly after the High Court sitting in Kabarnet endorsed the impeachment of former officeholder Ameja Zelemoi.
Zelemoi who was elected on a KANU ticket as the MCA for Churo Amaiya ward was impeached on March 17, 2020 in the motion where MCAs said they had lost confidence in his leadership and also accused him of abuse of public resources.
The incoming DS who was flanked by a section of MCA’s, including Kipruto Kimosop of Mochongoi ward and Silas Tochim of Tenges addressed journalists at the county assembly on Saturday and lauded the Judiciary for dispensing justice and fairness in the petition case.
Cheboiwo also attributed the victory in the petition to combined efforts of his lawyer, the legal teams of the county assembly besides the huge support from the Speaker and Assembly’s clerk.
He assured the nine MCAs who were opposed to his election that he shall dispense justice and fairness in his new role as their deputy speaker regardless of party affiliations.
Chemboiwo said he will immediately start his duty by fast tracking the work of the house committee to enable the county assembly achieve it set goals.
“Starting from today, we will plan for events whereby liaison committee will sit so that we will fast track on what every committee will be doing at a certain time. We will prepare our own work plan so that we make sure that Baringo county assembly achieves what they have planned to achieve in the remaining time before the 2022 general elections,” he stated.
Kimoshop and Tochim stated that the successful impeachment was motivated by the fact that the ousted deputy speaker was part of the political leaders scheming for the much publicized impeachment of Deputy President, Dr. William Ruto.
Kimosop who had seconded the impeachment motion on March stated that they had to trim the mouth of Zelemoi through the impeachment, so that they secure the popularity of the deputy president in the county assembly.
The MCAs allied to KANU Chairman, Senator Gideon Moi and those supporting Deputy President, have been clashing openly as each side seeks to win the political support of the populous Kalenjin community.
By Vincent Miningwo/Christopher Kiprop
