Nyamira County Governor Amos Nyaribo when he appeared before the Senate County Public Investment Committee at Bunge Towers, Nairobi on September 5, 2024.
Like many of his colleagues in Kenya, Amos Nyaribo did not have it easy while serving as deputy governor under the late John Nyagarama.
He lost out on alleged 50-50 pre-election arrangement he had with Nyagarama on sharing of opportunities; he was sidelined in key decision-making; and, at times, he was publicly humiliated — at one time his car tyres were deflated by unknown people at his boss’ parking lot.
Ordinarily, one would expect the situation to change for him now that he is the governor of Nyamira County, but from the look of things, he is a man under siege.
Nyaribo’s woes started almost immediately he ascended to high office following the death of Nyagarama, a few months before the 2022 General Election.
His first exam was to secure his new-found seat at the then impending polls.
While he and Nyagarama has been elected on the Orange Democratic Movement ticket, Nyaribo knew he stood little or no chance of flying the party’s flag at the election, given the many forces that were at play— including stiff competition from well-connected rivals.
As such he had to look for a political party that he would control. He was endorsed as the party leader of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA)— a nascent political party initially linked to former Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i, and which was desperately looking for a public face.
Nyaribo went ahead to win the August 2022 election but was soon faced with a petition, challenging his win. His victory was later affirmed by the courts.
Months after the election, the governor also faced accusations of interfering with the list of ward representatives as has been approved by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission's (IEBC).
The matter rocked UPA, causing sharp divisions that partly ended up in court. He would later successfully plot for the ouster of the majority of UPA’s founding national executive committee members, replacing them with his loyalists drawn mostly from Kisii and Nyamira counties.
“If we fail to agree, we cannot proceed. Please let us proceed. There are people who have been sent to cause chaos,” Nyaribo said on April 21, 2023 when two factions clashed at the UPA National Delegates Convention in Nairobi.
The wrangling factions could not agree on who between Nyambega Gisesa and Evans Omwoyo was to be elected the national chairman.
Initially, the ousted NEC members were already planning to suspend and chase Nyaribo away from the UPA, a matter that would deny him a party and possibly take him back to a by-election.
Having nipped such plans in the bud with a political masterstroke, Nyaribo was almost sitting pretty as governor when his deputy James Gesami, like him before, complained of being sidelined in the county appointments.
“He (Nyaribo) unilaterally decided that the game we pursued together would be enjoyed solely by him, leaving me with no entitlement, not even the leftovers,” Dr Gesami lamented in December 2022.
Then came a motion that sought to remove the governor from office by way of impeachment.
Immediately, the UPA challenged Dr Gesami to explain his role in the impeachment plans, something that he denied knowledge of. Dr Gesami and his boss have had a strained relationship ever since.
The governor was accused of micromanaging the County Public Service Board by “cherry picking” some key members of the board. He was also accused of suspending the CPSB’s secretary in the middle of an active recruitment exercise.
Nyaribo was further accused of non-remittance of statutory deductions, irregular re-allocation of emergency funds, dysfunctional revenue automation system, and failure to complete the construction of the county headquarters office complex.
Also central to the impeachment motion was the issue of nepotism and favouritism.
The governor’s UPA has a majority membership of nine in the county Assembly but the impeachment scare saw Nyaribo reach out to other parties who reportedly instructed their ward reps to vote against the impeachment.
The motion was finally shot down in October 2023 after it failed to meet the two thirds constitutional threshold.
But that did not close the chapter on struggles for Mr Nyaribo. When the fever of anti-government protests spread from Nairobi, Nyamira was one of the counties that saw youth stand up against their local administration
Gen Zs in Nyamira targeted Nyaribo’s county government, accusing it of rank corruption, incompetence, nepotism, and youth unfriendliness.
The young protesters demanded accountability for all stalled projects and transparency in the operations of the CPSB, which they said was corrupt.
At first, Nyaribo claimed that the protesters were goons sponsored by his political opponents.
But shortly afterwards, he would soften his stance and give a point-by-point answer to the 21 grievances that had been raised by the protesters.
“Allegations of all officers’ recruited being relatives of the governor are false. Recruitment is done by the CPSB and meets all the legal requirements including regional balance, age, gender, minority, experience and People with disability (PWD),” responded Nyaribo on claims of nepotism.
Like at the national level, the protests in Nyamira seem to have lost their allure and steam following the co-opting of opposition figures in President William Ruto’s newly found broad-base government.
As if the foregoing are not enough tribulations for one man, four Kenyans in August petitioned the IEBC seeking to have Nyamira County suspended.
Jeremiah Migosi, Astarico Omariba, Ombati Eunice and Jared Nyaribo want the devolved unit suspended over 11 issues that they term as grave concerns.
The quartet have told the IEBC that Nyamira County had engaged in several instances of impropriety and actions that were deemed to be against the common needs and interests of the registered voters of the area.
Read: Listen to the people: Kisii leaders tell President Ruto amid calls for an end to police brutality
They claimed that the county staff are mistreated due to failure to pay their dues on time, and that Nyaribo has been paying himself a hefty and illegal salary of Sh6.6 million.
However, the governor had earlier explained that the payments emanated from some arrears that accrued since his time as a deputy governor.
“The foregoing grievance and many more improprieties meet the threshold of exceptional circumstances as contemplated in the referenced provisions of Article 192 and Section 123 of other statutes,” reads the petition.
The governor’s incompetence, they said, is summarised by an embarrassing request that he made to President Ruto during his recent tour of Nyamira.
“When he was given the rare opportunity to speak at the presidential event and make any request on behalf of the people of Nyamira, the governor requested the president to build a morgue, a kitchen and a perimeter wall,” reads the petition in part.
Collecting signatures to petition for suspension of a county government is pursuant to Article 192(1)(b) of the Constitution, as read together with Section 132 of the County Governments Act No. 17 of 2012.
The petition has officially been received by IEBC and is awaiting further action, including responses from the governor.
