George Natembeya is the current Trans-Nzoia County Governor after he won in the 2022 General Elections. Natembeya fended off competition from former Kiminini MP Chris Wamalwa to clinch the seat.
Previously he was the Rift Valley Regional Commissioner and was always on the headlines owing to the fact that his area of jurisdiction had been marred with deadly violence. Armed bandits terrorised residents of Laikipia county including launching daring daylight attacks prompting the government to involve the military to calm the situation.
According to Natembeya, the violence in the vast region was sponsored by politicians. Among the issues the regional commander had to contend with include historical injustices, female genital mutilation, cattle rustling and perennial ethnic conflicts.
But seated in his Nakuru office, Natembeya managed to wage a brave fight in a move to surmount some of these challenges. However, his sharp tongue always pictured him as a controversial, rough administrator.
Age
Natembeya was born on 02 September 1971.
Family
The 53 year old is a father of 3. Two of his children are pursuing tertiary education while one is still in secondary school.
Education
Natembeya holds a bachelors of arts and a masters of arts degree in anthropology from University of Nairobi.
Career
He began his administrative role as a PA to the late Minister for security John Michuki. Asked whether he borrows a leaf from the latter’s leadership style, Natembeya proudly affirms.
“Everything I know, I learned from John Michuki,” he told People Daily publication.
After a stint of four years, Natembeya was promoted to a District Officer then to a District Commissioner in Murang’a.
As a DC, the county boss was tasked at suppressing the Mungiki gang that was terrorising residents. He had replaced Bungoma Governor Kenneth Lusaka. As one of his first duties, Natembeya was successful in quashing the Mungiki menace.
In 2016, Natembeya was appointed by the Jubilee government as a county commissioner in Isiolo before he was transferred to Narok.
While working in the South Rift, the little known Natembeya, was tasked with protecting the water towers of Mau.
Amid great friction emanating from a section of Rift Valley politicians, Natembeya successfully evicted over 10000 settlers. This earned him friends and foes in equal proportions.
In June 2019, he was promoted to the position of Rift Valley Regional Commissioner, a position he resigned from in order to contest the Trans-Nzoia gubernatorial elections.
After hanging his heavy boots in a bid to become the second governor of Trans-Nzoia county where he squared out with perceived rivals including Kiminini MP Chris Wamalwa. Natembeya alleged that the electorate in the county wanted him to vie for the gubernatorial seat due to his exemplary service in the interior ministry.
“When doing work away from home, people see how you’ve done. So when people call you back home, you have no option but to heed to their call,” he told NTV.
Governor
After being sworn in as Trans-Nzoia County Governor, Natembeya assembled his team within 3 months. He initially faced a legal hurdle challenging exclusivity in his government but was finally given green light.
In an interview with KBC, Natembeya outlined agriculture as one of his key agenda. The county chief said that despite his area of jurisdiction being regarded as a food basket, the area had in the recent years realized dwindling outputs because the soils ecosystem had been disrupted.
Another area that Natembeya promised to streamline was the health sector as he said some of the level 4 hospitals in the county had been downgraded to health centres. He therefore promised to introduce a raft of measures to correct the ‘sick’ health system.
Additionally, Natembeya pledged to improve education and the road networks.
Controversies
Natembeya’s utterances on insecurity, FGM and early pregnancies have more often than not raised eyebrows.
In 2019, Natembeya then working as a County Commissioner in Narok he said that school children would have to be inspected to determine if they had undergone FGM so that their parents could be held culpable.
His utterance caused a stir with teachers and anti-FGM groups warning that it was not only distasteful but the move would lead to stigmatization of girls who had undergone the cut.
In a move to disarm bandits in the volatile Kerio Valley, Natembeya, this time not mincing his words said that anyone who defied the government would have himself to blame.
“Hyenas will celebrate. There is no any other language,” he warned.
In September 2021, Natembeya alleged that bandits hiding in the Laikipia conservancy had powerful M16 rifles that were apparently more superior to what the Kenyan forces were using.
He further claimed that the Kenyan government neither manufactures nor imports the M16 rifles. He however recanted his words especially after the British Army training unit refuted claims that they were the source of the rifles.
“I was misquoted, I meant that the bandits are not using arrows, spears and machetes,” Natembeya told NTV.
Abductions
Governor Natembeya has never been shy when it comes to speaking his mind, as evidenced during the burial of Mama Anne Nanyama, the mother of National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang’ula, in Bungoma County.
The county boss criticised the ongoing abduction of government critics. His remarks were targeted towards the Central Organization of Trade Unions (COTU) Secretary General Francis Atwoli, who alleged that some youth were falsely claiming abductions to attract funding from civil society organizations.
“I say this with a very heavy heart. For a leader to stand here and say that people are abducting and killing themselves is unfortunate. Our children are being abducted, and some are being killed. We should not cover up the basic truth,” Natembeya told the mourners.
He went on to add,
“The youth are abusing people on social media. On my social media platforms, 8 out of 10 comments are insults. That needs to change. But if it cannot change, people do not need to be killed or abducted because of it” .
This remarks did not go down well with National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah, who accused the seasoned admistrator of dividing Kenyans along ethnic lines.
“The kind of politics you’re engaging in is meant to divide people on the basis of ethnicity. We will not be cowed,” Ichung’wah fired back.
