The Special Funds Account Committee has today elected Hon. Fatuma Zainab Mohammed as its Chairperson. The position had attracted two contestants: Hon. Fatuma Zainab Mohammed, MP (Migori) and Hon. Shakeel Ahmed Shabbir, MP (Kisumu Town East) and the two went through a secret ballot voting process to determine the winner. Hon. Fatuma garnered 8 votes against Hon. Shakeel’s 4 votes.
The position for the Vice Chairperson attracted 3 applicants including Hon. Dawood Abdul Rahim, MP, (Imenti North), Hon. Erastus Kivasu Nzioka, MP, (Mbooni )and Hon. Joseph Majimbo Kalasinga, MP (Kabuchai).
Hon. Kalasinga withdrew his application, and proposed Hon. Dawood for the position while Hon. Nzioka was declared by the Clerk in-charge as having not met the set criteria for nomination to vie for the position. The Clerk in-charge therefore declared Hon. Dawood Abdul Rahim as duly elected the Vice Chairperson of the committee.
In her acceptance speech, Hon. Fatuma who is a first time Member of Parliament called on the members to work together to deliver the mandate of the committee.
“I am very grateful and honored by your decision to vote for me despite being a first time member of Parliament. I am open to learning and consultation during this process, and I hope we will all work together.” Said the Chairperson.
The Vice Chairperson Hon. Dawood also called on the members to shun their party affiliations and put their heads together to deliver.
“Let me assure the chair and the members that we will all work together and we will not be at loggerheads whatsoever, regardless of our party affiliations . We have a lot on our tables, we will need institutional memory from seasoned members who we hope will guide us as we steer this committee towards achieving our goals.”
Hon. Shakeel who had vied for the Chairperson’s position congratulated Hon. Fatuma and promised to work with her fully. He also advised her to work on balancing her delivery to her constituents and her committee.
Hon. Nzioka accepted the Clerk’s decision to disqualify him but promised to contribute to the Committee as expected.