Uasin Gishu governor Jackson Mandago shares a light moment with President Uhuru Kenyatta and governors Stephen Sang (Nandi) and Salim Mvurya (Kwale) at the statehouse Nairobi on August 30, 2017 [PHOTO: Facebook/Uhuru Kenyatta]
A decision by President Uhuru Kenyatta to prevail upon governors elected on a Jubilee ticket to support Kwale governor Salim Mvurya for the post of the Council of Governors (CoG) chairman has put Uasin Gishu governor Jackson Mandago in an awkward position.
Mandago had recently said governors in the North Rift region would support the reelection of the current COG chairman Turkana Governor Josphat Nanok.
"We will support your reelection because we want this seat to remain here in the North Rift Economic bloc (Noreb)," Mandago said in Lodwar during the swearing in ceremony of Nanok.
Mandago is the chairman of Noreb that brings together eight counties of Uasin Gishu, Turkana, West Pokot, Trans Nzoia, Nandi, Elgeyo Marakwet and Samburu.
However, during a meeting at State House, Nairobi on Wednesday, President Kenyatta directed Jubilee governors to vote for Mvurya.
The Jubilee leader noted that the last five years were marked by confusion, which was mostly created by those who served as chairs of the CoG.
The position has been previously held by the former governors Isaac Ruto (Bomet) and Peter Munya (Meru).
Nanok was reelected on an Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) ticket and is likely to be a critic of the Jubilee government should President Uhuru Kenyatta's reelection be upheld by the Supreme Court.
It remains to be seen whether Mandago and other Jubilee governors in the North Rift will tore the line and support Mvurya at the expense of Nanok.