West Pokot Deputy Governor Dr. Nicholas Atudonyang had a difficult time in explaining why he was away from the country for so long when he had a responsibility to the people of West Pokot.
Citizen TV anchors, Victoria Rubadiri and Jeff Koinange, during the Sunday Live news show, confronted Atudonyang with tough questions over his absenteeism.
Atudonyang became the Deputy governor in 2017 after governor John Lonyangapuo won elections and has been serving his county while in the US, where he practices medicine.
With that it is difficult to understand how he would perform duties assigned to him as an assistant of the governor remotely.
“I have been away all these four years and of course not. It could have been true I was away most of the time or I wasn’t physically present in Kapenguria most of the time in the four years but I never abdicated the responsibility of being a deputy governor,” Atudonyang said.
According to him, the leadership, back in 2017, and the community requested him to help Professor Lonyangapuo as his running mate. At the time he was still in the US practicing his profession.
He said that they worked together for some time before he flew back to the US but his move raised questions of whether there was a conflict of interest between him and his boss but he says there is no beef between the two of them despite them being in different political parties now.
“Probably Kenyans learnt from me as well before even covid came that you can do so much like working from home,” he said adding that Lonyangapuo had explained to Kenyans previously why they had that particular working arrangement.
“Literally it was more profitable or beneficial to the people of West Pokot with me not being in the county and still playing my role or running the duties that are supposed to be of the Deputy Governor,” Atudonyang said.
He however said that he does not receive a salary for being a Deputy Governor, and that has helped the county in channeling the funds that would have paid his salary to other important things. He added that there was no responsibility that he was given that he failed to carry out.
“The cost of running my office I think is the lowest or cheapest of all the offices of Deputy governors in the entire republic,” he noted.
Atudonyang is eyeing the West Pokot gubernatorial seat but he says he will not be based in the US if he clinches the position.
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