• Speaker Aharub Khatri tell the Senate members have not received the money two years later.
• Khatri insists they have a good relationship with the governor and all his executives but three.
Image: JOHN CHESOLI
Mombasa MCAs could be rebelling against Hassan Joho's administration after the executive refused to release Sh140 million for their car loans and mortgages.
The Senate is out to find out the cause of the conflict. Assembly speaker Aharub Khatri disclosed to the Senate’s Devolution and Intergovernmental Relations committee that the members have not received the money.
“Two years down the line, we've not received the money, yet we captured it in the budget and we've also developed and approved regulations for the funds,” he said.
Khatri insisted the assembly has a good relationship with the governor and all his executives but three, dodging a question by Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei whether their rebellion was informed by the withheld cash.
“Could it be that failure by the county government to release this money be the cause of all these problems? Could we be right to conclude so?” Cherargei had asked.
The speaker appeared before the panel alongside Majority leader Hamisi Musa and the assembly clerk to shed light on the divisions that have rocked the county government leading to the impeachment of Transport executive Twafiq Balala. The MCAs defied a request by the Senate committee to put the exercise on hold until the matter was concluded. Jomvu's Athman Shebe sponsored the motion.
Joho appeared the committee on Monday. He accused the speaker of having a personal feud with Balala after the latter declined to give him 200 parking stickers.
But Khatri rejected the claims as Governor’s personal views. He maintained that Balala was impeached for failing to account for Sh181 million allocated for a street lighting project and ignoring invitations and summonses by the MCAs.
“The members have very good working relations with the governor and the CECs. I have nothing personal against either the governor or the CECs. We are just performing our oversight roles,” he said.
He said the House went ahead with the censor motion after exhausting all avenues to have Balala appear before them.
He said the MCAs had complained for more than six months why streetlights in their areas were not working.
“The members used to complain on a daily basis, but there was no one to respond to their concerns. We wrote to the CEC to provide a response. When his chief officer brought a report, it was shallow.”
He said the report and failure by Balala to honour their summonses exposed his incompetence and high-handedness, thus unfit to hold public office.
An ad hoc committee of five members of the county assembly has been formed to probe the allegations made against the executive. Balala will appear before the committee to defend himself. It will then file a report, recommending his removal or otherwise, before tabling it in the House for adoption or rejection.
Concerning the ongoing collection of signatures to dissolve the county government, Khatri said the exercise is being spearheaded by a lobby group that has twice stormed the county assembly premises.
“They were more than 200 people dressed in T-shirts written 'Fagia (clean) assembly'. I cannot say it is the governor who has done that because I have no evidence. I don’t even think the governor could have done something like that,” he said.
Joho had denied sponsoring the lobby group to intimidate the MCAs.