A spirited bid to impeach Kitui county assembly speaker Kevin Katisya has split the house into two rival camps—one pushing for his removal and the other rallying to defend him.
The rift boiled over on Tuesday afternoon when a press conference called by anti-Katisya MCAs descended into chaos.
Pro-Katisya members stormed the briefing in an attempt to disrupt it, sparking a shouting match that nearly turned physical as MCAs shoved and pushed each other, to the dismay of journalists covering the event.
The group pushing for Katisya’s ouster is led by minority whip Sylvester Munyalo, who drafted the notice of motion seeking his removal.
Majority whip Godfrey Ndangara, meanwhile, marshalled MCAs to counter the move.
While the drama unfolded at the assembly precincts, Katisya was away on official duty in Meru, where he handed over hosting rights for the County Assemblies Sports Association games to his counterpart, Speaker Ayub Bundi.
It was not clear whether Katisya was aware of the impeachment bid, as Munyalo appeared to seize the moment to file the motion directly with the office of the clerk.
In the notice, Munyalo accused the speaker of abuse of office, conflict of interest and gross violation of the constitution.
The motion was signed by 31 MCAs drawn from both the majority and minority sides of the house.
“With such bipartisan support, we had no difficulty raising the requisite numbers to back the motion,” Munyalo told the press.
He claimed 37 of the assembly’s 60 members were backing the plan.
“Katisya should resign before we impeach him,” he added, acknowledging that although the speaker was a sharp legal mind, he had failed as head of the assembly.
Chuluni MCA Matthew Vuthi, the vice-chairperson of the powerful County Assembly Service Board, accused Katisya—who chairs the board—of pushing for the recruitment of incompetent staff in the ongoing hiring exercise.
He alleged that eight candidates who passed interviews were sidelined to make way for those who had failed.
“As board members, we will stand for justice for the qualified interviewees, not otherwise,” Vuthi said.
Kyuso MCA Munyoki Mwinzi added that Katisya should be impeached for perpetuating conflicts of interest in the running of assembly affairs.
