Tana River County will soon have a substantive County Secretary following the nomination of Mr. Joshua Kofa Jara to the position by Governor Dhadho Godhana.
Dr. Godhana submitted Mr. Jara’s name for vetting by the County Assembly of Tana River last week but the matter became official on Sunday night through an undated press release signed by Mr. Steve Juma, the Governor’s Press Director.
“This is to inform the people of Tana River County that H.E Major (rtd) Dadho Godhana has, pursuant to the provisions of Section 44 of the County Government Act, nominated Mr. Jara Joshua Kofa to be vetted by the County Assembly for the position of County Secretary,” Mr. Juma said.
If approved by the assembly, Mr. Jara will take over from Mr. Salim Bagana, who has been acting County Secretary for more than one year since the substantive County Secretary, Mr. Abdu Dae Godana, resigned and was subsequently appointed an Executive Committee Member in Lamu County.
The governor’s Press Director said Mr. Jara was among three names presented to the governor by the County Public Service Board in accordance with Section 44 of the County Government Act.
However, the governor did not name the other two nominees.
Section 44 of the County Governments’ Act states that the county secretary shall be competitively sourced from amongst persons who are university graduates with at least ten years’ experience in administration and management.
It further states that such a person shall be nominated by the governor with the approval of the county assembly; appointed by the governor and may, subject to the conditions and terms of appointment, be dismissed by the governor.
Mr. Juma said the nominee has tremendous expertise and experience in public administration drawn from over 35 years of work experience with various Public and private sector institutions among them the Kenya Airways and other institutions of governance.
“As the new County Secretary, Mr Jara Kofa will be tasked with the mandate of instilling the much needed corporate culture and will in this regard be the head of the County Public Service,” Juma said.
He congratulated the nominee and wished him well in the vetting process.
By nominating Mr. Jara, Dr, Godhana is believed to be consolidating his support base ahead of the hotly contested gubernatorial elections by rewarding supporters who have felt sidelined despite aggressively campaigning for him.
The nominee is an ardent member of the Orange Democratic Movement and he is the one who handed over the party’s nomination certificate to Dr. Godhana after being nominated by ODM members during party primaries ahead of the General Elections in 2017 in which the former assistant minister for Information and Communication beat Adam Barissa Dhidha, a former CEC member in the county.
In July this year, Dr. Godhana appointed two close allies: Major (rtd) Mohamed Dhadho Morowa to the new position of Director, Partnerships and Linkages, and Major (rtd) Swaleh Jilo Odha as Liaison Officer in the office of Inter-governmental relations.
The position of Tana River County Secretary attracted ten persons, including Mr. Jara, Mr. Bagana, County Public Board Vice Chairperson Milka Karhayu and Mr. Ambari Guyo.
The others were Mugho Stephen Mwakisha, Nkaduda Mpembe Hiribae, Edward Matthew Yesse, Jillo Alex Kase, Omar Abdalla Dhadho and Zainabu Hadulla Kase.
They were interviewed in Malindi in December 2017 but the process was delayed after a resident challenged the exercise through a petition filed with the Public Service Commission.
By Emmanuel Masha
