Migori county’s governship contest list shaping up

It might be about a year left to the 2012 General Elections, but Nyanza Weekly can authoritatively report that already the political battle lines are fast being drawn across the six Nyanza counties. The prospective candidates, salivating at the bounties of elective positions created by the new County Government structures, are at work… meticulously plotting their political game plans ahead of the forthcoming scramble for leadership positions under the new constitutional dispensation. Article 176(1) of the Constitution provides that there shall be a county government for each of the country’s 47 counties. Such a devolved government, the constitution stipulates, shall consists of a county assembly and a county executive. With the Speaker as an ex officio member, the county assembly shall comprise of members elected by the registered voters of the wards, each ward constituting a single member constituency. Other than a provision for special seats to ensure that no more than two-thirds of membership of the assembly is of the same gender, additional seats would be set aside for the marginalized groups including persons with disabilities and the youth. The executive authority of the county is vested in, and exercised by, a county executive committee consisting of the county governor and the deputy county governor alongside members appointed by the county governor –with the approval of the assembly- from among persons who are not members of the assembly.