Nyeri — Deputy President -elect, Rigathi Gachagua is among the over 4,000 guests expected to grace Thursday's swearing in ceremony of Mutahi Kahiga as Nyeri's fifth governor.
The ceremony is set to take place at the newly constructed Nyeri bus park which is situated at the Asian Quarters in Nyeri town.
According to the Assumption of Office Committee, guests and members of the public are expected to be seated by 9am while the official swearing in set to kick off at 10 am and will be presided over by Justice James Wakiaga of the Murang'a high court.
Addressing the press at the Sh600 million ultra-modern bus park after inspecting the ongoing preparations, the chairman of the committee, Benjamin Gachichio said that the committee had sent aside Sh5 million for the ceremony.
Gachichio said that the committee will dispatch over 40 buses to ferry members of the public from all the 30 wards in the county.
"The good thing is that it is an easy thing for us in Nyeri because it is continuous but all the same, it is a legal process that must be done. All the arrangements have been made, we have invited representatives from all parts of the county to ensure that the county is well represented .We have hired buses for them we shall transport them and take them back," said Gachichio.
"We have officially invited 4,000 people although it is a public event so more people might come. Basically when we invite people officially we expect to definitely spend money on transport, maybe feed the people or, maybe give them a token for lunch," he added.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
The chairman of the committee was flanked by the Nyeri County Commissioner, Mohammed Barre and County Police Commander Gabriel Steve Oloo who reassured guests intending to attend the ceremony that security will be beefed up.
"The issue of security arrangement has been taken care of.This a joint programme, there is no team that is not involved in from the national government; the judiciary,the police, the county commissioner and Ministry of devolution are here to guide us," added Gachichio.
Nyeri governor elect, Mutahi Kahiga, retained his gubernatorial position after getting 213,373 votes in the August 9,General Elections.
Kahiga who was vying on a UDA ticket beat his closest rival Dr Thuo Mathenge (NDP) by over 100,000 votes to secure his second term in office. Mathenge, a businessman who is fondly referred to as 'Wanguku', garnered 81,467 votes.
Once sworn in, Mutahi Kahiga, will be serving his second term in office, this time as the duly elected fifth governor. He was sworn in as Nyeri's fourth governor in November 2017 following the death of governor Wahome Gakuru who died through a road accident after serving for barely three months in office. Kahiga was Gakuru's deputy.
During his first term in office, Kahiga was deputized by Dr Caroline Karugu before they fell out in 2019.For this second term, Kahiga picked Mukurwe-ini politician David Kinaniri as his deputy. - Kna
