A section of Nairobi MCAs have called on President Uhuru Kenyatta and opposition leader Raila Odinga to dialogue with Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko over the budget stalemate in the county.
Close to 40 MCAs who addressed the media at a private residence in Nairobi on Monday called for a ceasefire meeting that will help end the disagreement between the governor and the Nairobi Metropolitan Service boss Mohammed Badi.
According to the MCAs, the budget wrangles that have delayed funding of the NMS should not form a basis for impeaching the governor.
Waithaka MCA Kiragu Karanja said it is important for the two leaders to intervene on the issue so that service delivery in the city can resume "Let the President and the former Prime Minister lead talks that will help bring this issue to an end," Karanja said.
He said that the group allied to the governor has resolved to shoot down the impeachment. " We are here to say that we are fully behind Governor Sonko and the NMS. We do not oppose NMS but all we want is respect for the rule of law," he said.
They dismissed reports that 86 out of the 122 MCAs signed Sonko's impeachment motion that is slated for Thursday.
Nominated MCA Silvia Museiya said that some signatures were collected through coercion and intimidation " We are here to make it clear that the signatures that they purported to have collected were not true because they were collected from a Kamkunji meeting held two weeks ago," she said.
The MCAs claimed that some 82 of their members have signed affidavits against the purported signatures.
The impeachment motion prompted by the governor’s refusal to sign the 2020/2021 appropriation bill was tabled by Embakasi ward MCA Michael Ogada.
He has also been accused of gross violation of the constitution, abuse of office, gross misconduct and crimes under national law.
However, the Sonko allied MCAs insist everything revolves around the budget making process which they claim was illegal. “The biggest contention is the budget that was passed recently and it is a budget which did not have our input and that of the governor," Karanja said.
The new move could serve as a sigh of relief to the governor who was also present at the private residence where the press conference was held.
To impeach him, 82 out of the 122 MCAs must vote in favour of the motion and this means that if the close to 40 MCAs rally behind him he will escape the onslaught.
Sonko has himself stated that he does not fear going home if impeached but it is now clear that he is putting up a fight to save himself.
The governor also seems to have softened his stand on the Building Bridges Initiative after the MCAs said that they are solidly behind the initiative and that the governor too has no problem with it.
Their meeting was however disrupted by police officers immediately they finished addressing the media, sparking chaos and drama.
The officers claimed that the meeting was against the Covid-19 regulations as provided by the health ministry.
