A group of MCAs allied to Speaker Beatrice Elachi have accused Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko of being behind the chaos witnessed at the assembly on Tuesday.
This comes as Mlango Kubwa MCA Patriciah Mutheu spent the night at Nairobi Women's Hospital after police officers clobbered her at the assembly.
The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) are probing the matter.
Addressing the media at KICC, the MCAs led by June Ndegwa said, “We saw one of us Patricia Mutheu being clobbered by the police and it is regrettable that they used excessive force on her and we wish her a quick recovery,” she said.
Ndegwa said Sonko doesn’t want to let President Uhuru Kenyatta's vision come to pass.
She also termed Sonko’s bid to withdraw from the deed of the transfer agreement “uncouth".
“If it is one person who is making us fight then we will get rid of him. He (Sonko) is responsible for bringing goons to the assembly. The NMS has really worked and within 100 days, you can see the transformation that the city has undergone,” Ndegwa stated.
Saying that Sonko is scared of being called a failure, Kayole Central MCA Jeremiah Karani noted that the governor has realised that the Nairobi Metropolitan Service under Major General Badi was effective in the execution of its duties.
“We want this chaos to stop and focus on service delivery to our people. Sonko should allow the NMS to work without the political interference for the benefit of Nairobains,” he said.
However, Governor Sonko through his spokesman Ben Mulwa rubbished the claims and termed the accusations baseless.
He said it was irresponsible of the Speaker to drag the Governor into her problems with the MCAs.
“If the members she is supposed to be leading are dissatisfied with her conduct then it is irresponsible and far-fetched for speaker Elachi and by extension some MCAs to drag the Governor into the issues at the assembly,” Mulwa said.
No impeachment
The MCAs also vowed to block an impeachment motion against Elachi.
They dismissed the grounds and termed them “frivolous”, noting that Elachi is here to stay.
“We are 75 MCAs that support Elachi leave alone those that claim to have collected 59 signatures to impeach her. Elachi is nowhere. She had initially been impeached but was reinstated by the courts and also obtained an order prohibiting her second ouster,” Karani said.
At least 59 MCAs have appended their signatures and have filed a notice of motion for the removal of Elachi.
They cite six grounds for removing Elachi in their second attempt.
They are alleged militarisation of the assembly, abuse of office, illegal appointment of the assembly clerk, impunity, poor leadership, financial irregularities, victimisation of MCAs and assembly staff and disregard for the law.
