This archive report was first published on 9 October 2019.
Published on October 9, 2019, West Pokot Governor John Lonyangapuo appeared before the Senate Devolution Committee to address concerns over his absent Deputy Governor Nicholas Atudonyang.
Atudonyang has been working as a neurosurgeon in Texas, USA, for 15 years and had flown back to the country after the last General Election. However, he returned to the US in April, citing personal problems and illness.
When asked by the committee if he would provide them with Dr Atudonyang's contacts in Texas, Lonyangapuo replied that he could only provide them with his WhatsApp line, stating, “That is what the professor uses to reach the doctor in Texas. Mr Chairman, I can only give you that WhatsApp line.”
The governor also claimed that the county had received medical equipment worth more than Sh150 million, for which they paid only Sh3 million in freight fees, courtesy of Dr Atudonyang's networks in the USA.
Committee chairman John Kinyua (Laikipia) pleaded with Lonyangapuo to request Atudonyang to resign voluntarily, but the governor stated that he had reached an agreement with the deputy governor that the county terminates his salary.
However, Lonyangapuo stated that he did not have the powers to sack Atudonyang, who remains elected and there is a process of removing a deputy governor and even governors.
