Baringo Assembly Clerk resigns to pursue Governor’s seat

Immediate former Baringo County Assembly Clerk CPA Richard Koech has vowed to be a solution to the slow implementation menace of projects at the County should he be elected the third Governor.

Koech who served as a Chief Officer (CO) for finance in both Baringo and West Pokot Counties noted that changes in accounting officers as well as appointment of less experienced financial managers by the current administration in the sensitive docket resulted in the derailed implementation of projects.

He made the remarks at the assembly boardroom in Kabarnet town on Wednesday after tendering his resignation to join the growing list of public officers countrywide who have relinquished their posts for higher seats in compliance with the Elections Act of 2011.

Koech who is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) regretted that the county was heading to the right direction in the first term until another team came in, which he said committed many mistakes which made some of the residents to lose trust in devolution.

“We had normalized many operations during the first government and things were running smoothly but shortly after our exit things started to change for the worse,” he claims.

From the public outcry, he now says he is banking on wide experience in financial management having served for ten years in the office of the Auditor General and as finance CO for the two counties of Baringo and West Pokot before being appointed as Baringo County Assembly clerk from 2019 till his resignation.

At the same time, he said he will focus on the expansion of resource base and revenue collection in order to supplement the support of other sectors of the county’s economy.

“I have some serious plans in reviving the implementation of equalization funds because it will greatly benefit many locations in the entire lower belt of the county from Mogotio Sub County all the way up to Tirioko and Kerio Valley region normally faced with a myriad of challenges like lack of clean water, inadequate health facilities, poor road network as well as school infrastructures,” he explained.

Koech who will be contesting on a UDA ticket noted that the additional funds which will amount up to Ksh 5 billion will ease the burden of need of more resources to spur development in the county.

Other areas he mentioned he prioritize his administration will champion is establishment of the first university by first acquiring a piece of land.

Koech who was flanked by seven MCAs and other staff argued that Baringo has never had a public university because of poor leadership but under his seven-pillar manifesto it shall be realized.