•Assembly leadership divided as one side support impeachment while the other opposes
•Minority Chief Whip Peter Imwatok had said legislators could not be part of Sonko’s woes
The purported plans to impeach Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko who has been ordered by a court to stay out of office are mere talk Speaker Beatrice Elachi has confirmed.
Sonko has been charged with corruption at City Hall and ordered not to perform official functions.
Elachi on Tuesday said she was yet to receive a notice of impeachment motion with valid grounds from MCAs.
But the MCAs supporting the impeachment say the plan is still on.
Elachi said she could not call for a special sitting since what she received was a vague letter whose objectives were not clear.
The city MCAs are currently on recess and are expected for the fourth session in February.
“I have not received any letter indicating an impeachment motion. The grounds have to be valid and be properly written. They also need to know the process cannot happen in a single sitting,” she said.
“The special sitting request was not properly done because it was general. You cannot state you want to discuss the current crisis facing the county. It has to be specific on what exactly is ailing the county. I’m guided by the law that clearly says to gazette a special sitting you have to be very specific and gazette what to discuss.”
She said she had not ruled out a censure motion but the members behind it should do it properly.
“ Let the objective be clear so that when the discussion comes we don’t get into nitty gritty issues which were not highlighted,” she said.
The pro-impeachment MCAs have been holding meetings since Saturday last week.
Speaker Elachi said the legislators should be careful on the grounds for a censure motion because it might involve issues which are already before the courts that can not be debated in the house.
“We have to be very careful as an institution because if the grounds will touch on issues already in court, we can be easily sued,” she said.
“You cannot impeach the Governor for not having a deputy governor. It can be challenged in court and we will be told we have known that for the past two years and the assembly had an opportunity to do that before the current court case,” Elachi said.
The Speaker said the MCAs should wait for an advisory opinion of the Attorney General on the scenario facing the county.
Elachi said she held a meeting with the office of the Attorney General early this week and was assured within seven days she would get a response.
“The AG's advisory is very important because it will shed light on the situation since the Constitution is not clear what happens when we have a barred governor and with no deputy yet the speaker cannot act since there is no vaccum,” she said.
Jubilee Party secretary general Raphel Tuju also said the party had sought guidance from the AG and the reply will give direction on what next for Nairobi.