• The letter from the Dubai courts was addressed to embattled clerk Jacob Ngwele claiming the assembly has failed to pay Birmingham Leadership Development Centre without clear reasons.
• A bank slip seen by The Star shows that Sh1,212,085 through Co-operative Bank was paid on May 25, 2019.
Image: EZEKIEL AMINGA
Nairobi County Assembly MCAs will have to keep off from travelling to the United Arab Emirates due to unclear legal debt owed to a Dubai-based firm Birmingham Leadership Development Centre (BLDC)
This is after County Assembly Speaker Beatrice Elachi said her office was in the recipient of a letter from Dubai courts claiming the assembly owes the firm Sh 2.38 million
The letter from the Dubai courts was addressed to embattled clerk Jacob Ngwele claiming the assembly has failed to pay Birmingham Leadership Development Centre without clear reasons.
“Hon. Members, in the letter by Lawyer Abdulla Bin Hatem, under the instruction of his client and plaintiff, being The Birmingham Leadership Development Centre (TBLDC) is claiming an outstanding Legal and Court Fees amounting to USD 23,500 which was arrived vide Dubai Court Judgement No. 656/2019 and 1952 of 2019,” reads the letter.
The letter was written by Abdullah Mohammed Rasoul Ali Alharmoodi Advocates and Legal Consultants on behalf of the Birmingham Leadership Development Centre.
When reached out for a comment, Ngwele explained that the case originated from a trip to Dubai by MCAs back in June 2018
He revealed that TBLDC had invited members for a training program in 2018 and Sh1.2 million was expected to be paid by the assembly.
“The Assembly was to pay Sh1.2 million and not the trumped up charges of Sh2.38 million as claimed. I can confirm that the Sh1.2 million was paid and what the firm is trying to do now is blackmail us. As you can see from the payment slip the money was paid,” Ngwele explained.
A bank slip seen by The Star shows that Sh1,212,085 through Co-operative Bank was paid on May 25, 2019, to bank account AE490380000012001213577 of National Bank of Fujairah, Abu Hail Branch.
He brought to light that some MCAs had been arrested while on a trip in Dubai over the alleged debt but insisted that the issue had already been sorted out.
Clarifying the matter, he said that the payment was to be paid the assembly and not him as an individual.
“This happened while I was away from the office but I am in receipt of communication between the advocates and clerk Monicah Muthami in form of emails where the former is demanding for payment,” Ngwele said.
However, Elachi stated that the Office of the Speaker takes cognizant to a number of financial misappropriation and abuse of office by the one Jacob Ngwele during his tenure as the Clerk of the Assembly.
“Hon. Members, you may recall that the Chair, vide a Communication dated Wednesday, 30th October 2019 directed the formation of ADHOC Committees by the County Assembly Service Board with an aim of examining and evaluating the Administrative aspects, the Financial aspects and the Technical aspect of the Assembly with a view of improving efficiency for its posterity,” Elachi said.
The speaker added that the house is waiting for the completion of the inquiries and tabling of the reports by the various Ad Hoc Committees, which will unravel the circumstance that leads to the unexplained legal claims.
As a result, she advised the MCAs to cease any official travel or otherwise to the United Arab Emirates or transit as the Assembly Service Board address the issue.
Elachi also directed that the Ad Hoc Committees expedites its inquiries to enable the relevant enforcement agencies to act on the same in a timely manner.