Kisumu — Majority leaders' drawn from five county assemblies in the Nyanza region have reminded legislators in the National Assembly to stop over- sighting counties and concentrate on their work.
The assembly leaders are concerned that some MPs in Kisii County have been pre-occupied by the work being undertaken by the county Governor, Simba Arati.
The majority leaders', Edward Ouma of Migori, Henry Moracha of Kisii, Richard Ogindo of Homa Bay, Ken Ooko of Kisumu and Edwin Otieno of Siaya said Governors must be given space to deliver on their mandates.
Ouma noted that what transpired in Kisii when Governor Arati had a confrontation with the security apparatus was sanctioned by some MPs, who have abandoned their duties at the national level.
"Let our MPs not use the powers they have to frustrate and intimidate elected leaders, we want harmony to prevail in the country," he said.
He said the MPs should know it is the duty of county assemblies to oversee what the Governors are doing at the counties.
"We request our colleagues in the National Assembly to focus on over-sighting the executive and give us space to also exercise our duty down here as enshrined in the Constitution," he said.
While addressing the press in Kisumu on Sunday, Moracha reiterated the same sentiments noting that there is no day the MCAs will oversight the MPs on how they are using the National Government Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF).
He said the Constitution apportioned responsibilities to every leader in the country and urged the legislators to give Governors respect they deserve and space to execute their mandate.
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His Homa Bay counterpart on the other hand called upon President William Ruto to ensure no government officer is used to settle political scores in the counties.
Ogindo noted that the situation witnessed in Kisii should not repeat itself since it exposed the Governor to public ridicule.
"We don't want to see situations where politicians use government security agencies to harass elected leaders just because they are not in the same political party," said Ogindo.
The leaders further asked their colleagues in the Assemblies not to be used to stoke division in the counties.
Kisumu majority leader said MCAs must stick to their role and not be used to fuel political tensions in the counties through sponsoring of impeachment motions.
"As the representatives of the people, we will do what is expected of us but we will not allow ourselves to be used to fighting the Governors. Any fight in the counties automatically derails development," he said.
