Senator Wambua Launches Kitui Governor Campaign
Politics & Elections

Kitui County News: Wambua Enters Governor Race, MCA Becomes Clerk

August 2026

Kitui County news this week has been dominated by Kitui Senator Enoch Wambua’s decision to formally launch his campaign for the county’s top seat, even as a long-serving MCA swapped elective office for a top administrative post and boda boda riders renewed pressure on local MPs over driving licences. Together, the three stories show a county already gearing up for the 2027 succession race while still handling the everyday business of devolved government.

Wambua Formally Enters the Governor’s Race

Senator Enoch Wambua has held his official campaign launch at Kitui Municipal Stadium, The County Diary reports, with his team framing the bid around equitable development, accountability and merit. Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna showed up at the event and threw his weight behind the Kitui senator, telling the crowd that Wambua was the best person to steer the county forward, according to the same report. The launch pushes Wambua’s campaign to succeed Governor Julius Malombe a step further, with the senator promising fairer distribution of county resources and tighter management of public funds.

Wambua’s Kitui appearance came right on the heels of a separate visit by Sifuna, who flew into the county for what People Daily described as another public engagement, arriving shortly after finishing a run of late-night rallies in Kakamega County. That report says Sifuna was received by Wambua at Ithookwe Stadium on the Monday. The two accounts differ slightly on which Kitui venue hosted events that weekend, so readers should treat the exact sequence of stops as still being pieced together rather than fully settled.

Migwani MCA Steps Down to Become Assembly Clerk

Away from campaign politics, the Kitui County Assembly has approved Harrison Maluki Mawia as its new Clerk, following a resolution passed during an afternoon sitting on Wednesday, August 5, The County Diary reports. Mawia had been serving as MCA for Migwani Ward and as the assembly’s Majority Leader before the County Assembly Service Board settled on him after completing its recruitment process for the post. His move marks a shift from elected politics to the assembly’s administrative side.

As Clerk, Mawia now takes charge of keeping the assembly’s official records and giving members procedural and administrative backing, while also serving as secretary to the County Assembly Service Board. It’s a behind-the-scenes but influential post, since the clerk’s office keeps the legislative machinery of the county assembly running day to day.

Boda Boda Riders Push MPs to Match the Governor’s Licensing Drive

Meanwhile, boda boda riders in Kitui are asking the county’s MPs to do more to help them get proper driving licences. Kitui County Boda Boda Association chairman Kevin Kivala said the Star reports that three of the county’s eight MPs — Kitui Central’s Makali Mulu, Mwingi West’s Charles Nguna and Kitui West’s Vethi Nyenze — have already backed licensing drives in their own constituencies, and he wants the rest to follow suit.

Kivala said Governor Julius Malombe’s administration had already supported training and licensing for roughly 2,000 riders, with the county government recently issuing smart driving licences to 783 riders drawn from all 40 wards at a ceremony hosted at the Kenya Forestry Research Institute grounds in Kitui. He pointed out that around 10,921 of the county’s roughly 14,000 boda boda riders still lack valid licences, and credited the county’s road-safety sensitisation push with cutting crashes and traffic violations involving riders. Kivala said, “many riders ended up at the mortuary,” recalling how bad the toll used to be before the training programmes began.

What It Means for Kitui

Taken together, this week’s Kitui County news points to a county juggling early positioning for the 2027 governor’s race alongside routine but consequential shifts inside the county assembly and practical concerns like road safety for thousands of boda boda riders. Expect the governor’s race to dominate headlines in the coming months as more contenders declare their intentions.

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