Remembering the brutal battle for Nakuru's mayor position before devolution
Nakuru East MP David Gikaria.
Over the past few years, many people have come to identify Nakuru’s leadership with the governorship.
Before we ever had Governors, we had Mayors who were in charge of municipalities.
Hence, Nakuru’s mayor governed Nakuru municipality which comprised of what is now Nakuru East and Nakuru West sub counties.
And if you thought contesting and winning the governor’s seat was hard, well you’re wrong.
The battle for the mayor position was a whole different kind of crazy.
Being the mayor accorded one the responsibility of being the head of the local government, playing a key role in the decision-making process and providing leadership to the community.
This being the case, the process around electing a new mayor never lacked drama, especially the last few years before the seat was defunct.
John Kitilit.
In 2009, the elections for the mayoral seat were headlined with violence after the incumbent David Gikaria (now Nakuru Town East Member of Parliament) and the newly elected mayor John Kitilit were at loggerheads after the former was unsatisfied with the results.
This led to fist fights among councillors from both divides. In the midst of the chaos, John Kitilit was sworn in and he immediately assumed office.
Fast forward to 2011 and Nakuru municipality was stuck in another stalemate.
This time, John Kitilit who was the former immediate mayor insisted not to relinquish the mayoral seat to the elected Mayor Mohamed Suraw, following a court order that ruled that status quo prior to the elections be maintained.
Mohammed Suraw.
Following the same script as his predecessor, Mohammed Suraw was sworn in immediately after the elections, all this time Kitilit and his supporters not having any of it.
The supporters of Kitilit were ready to go into the council offices to remove the newly elected mayor while supporters of Suraw were camped at the Council offices in a bid to protect their newly elected mayor.
Kitilit accused the then OCPD Johnston Ipara of not effecting the court orders that would make him mayor.
Mayor Mohammed Suraw served as the last mayor of Nakuru from 2011-2013, before devolution kicked in abolishing the mayor seat and introducing the governorship.