By Daniel Otieno, Vihiga County
Vihiga Governor Dr Wilber Ottichilo has reshuffled his cabinet, reassigning several County Executive Committee Members (CECMs), including those ranked among the best performers in the just-concluded Vihiga County Public Service Excellence Awards.
In Executive Order No. 1 of 2025, sent to newsrooms on Tuesday evening, the governor stated that “in exercise of powers conferred upon him by Article 179(4) and (6) of the Constitution of Kenya 2010,” he had effected the re-assignment of duties to the following county executive committee members for the purpose of enhancing service delivery. The re-assignment, the order noted, takes effect immediately.
In the changes, Meshack Onzere Mulongo, who was named the best-performing CECM with a performance score of 125%, has been moved from the Department of Environment, Water, Energy, Natural Resources, and Climate Change to head Finance and Economic Planning.
County officials said Mulongo’s performance was attributed to timely project implementation, strategic planning, and alignment with climate-resilient development goals.
Dr Jairus Boston Amayi, who had been serving as the Finance CECM, has been transferred to lead the Environment docket, replacing Mulongo.
The reshuffle also saw Dr Julius Kiboen Maruja, previously the CECM for Health Services and third-best performer with a score of 86.05%, moved to the Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries department.
His department had been credited with improving health infrastructure and access to care in underserved areas of the county.
Dr Nicholas Kitungulu, who had served as the Agriculture CECM and ranked second with a score of 96.7%, will now take charge of Health Services.
Together with his Chief Officer Dr Betty Mulianga, Kitungulu had led the push for agricultural transformation in the county, including farmer input support, livestock health, and aquaculture development.
In other changes, Anne Desma was moved from the Department of Gender, Youth, Culture, Sports and Social Services to head Education and Technical Vocational Training, while Dr Ruth Agesa was reassigned from Education to take over the Gender docket.
Prof Mike Iravo, who previously headed Transport and Infrastructure, will now serve as the CECM for Physical Planning, Lands, Housing, and Urban Development, exchanging roles with Grace Kadenge, who moves to head the Transport docket.
CECMs who retained their positions include Dr Nicholas Mwandihi (Public Services and Administration) and Joseph Lunani (Commerce, Tourism, and Cooperatives).
According to Governor Ottichilo, the reshuffle was meant to enhance service delivery and assign new responsibilities to high performers to help sustain the county’s development momentum.
He noted that performance reviews would remain an important tool in monitoring public service impact.
