US-based Kenyan Governor? County Chief on the Spot for Absconding, Living Abroad

For months a county has been on autopilot after reports emerge that the governor has found another home abroad. The residents are now up in arms, demanding answers.

What started as frequent foreign visits has now blossomed into a complete relocation abroad. Nakuru governor Susan Kihika is being faulted for absconding duties and living life too far away from work. Kihika, who recently gave birth, has been away from the public eye for months, a situation that now threatens her job.

Frustrated by the governor’s absence, over 2000 residents from Nakuru County filed a petition to the county assembly on Thursday demanding to know the whereabouts of the governor. The residents are faulting the governor for missing crucial county events such as the launch of seven school buses, attended by Prime CS Musalia Mudavadi and two principal secretaries. The country has also been grappling with managerial crises such as protests over the disappearance of a fisherman and the murder of a famed local politician. 

The governor, who in January explained that she was on maternity leave, seems to have overstayed, leaving county management to her deputy David Kones. According to Kenyan labor laws, female employees are entitled to a minimum of three months (90 days) of paid maternity leave. However, the governor has been missing in action for 5 months now, having been last seen in public in November last year.

Recently, the governor hosted, at her US home, former nominated Women Representative Millicent Omanga. The governor is known to have established a law firm, the Kihika Law Firm P.L.L.C., located in Dallas, Texas, from where she operates.