• Assembly strips him powers to sit in three committees.
• Reportedly used governor's WhatsApp forum to discredit assembly's powers.
Image: FILE
Siaya county assembly has stripped South East Alego MCA Joseph Mboha powers to sit in three committees for allegedly leaking crucial information to the executive.
Mboha is a member of the Roads, Education and Budget committees.
The House further resolved to suspend the MCA for two weeks, after which he will appear before the Powers and Privileges Committee which will decide his future.
Mboha was accused of leaking the deliberations of the Roads committee to his close relative Bernard Mboha, who is the Roads executive. He has also been accused of perennial absenteeism from preliminary sessions.
During yesterday’s heated debate concerning Mboha's conduct, Yimbo East MCA Francis Otiato moved a motion which displayed Mboha to have demeaned the image of the assembly.
Otiato, in his motion that received the backup of the entire House, claimed that Mboha used the WhatsApp platform to discredit the assembly’s powers to oversee the executive.
“The assembly is worried about the delay by the executive to disburse bursary funds only for Mboha to discredit our deliberations that we do not have the moral authority to oversee the executive,” the Yimbo East ward rep said.
He claimed that the move amounted to gross misconduct by the MCA since he (Mboha) posted the message in Siaya Governor Cornel Rasanga’s forum; Rasanga Legacy Forum, hence pre-emptying the committee’s deliberations.
Leonard Oriaro (Central Alego) described the accusations as libel and a criminal offence that requires stern action to be a lesson to other leaders with similar intentions.
Emily Awita (Nominated) said Mboha was misguided in his actions hence deserves to appear before the Powers and Privileges committee for stern action to be taken.
Mboha, while responding to the accusations, confirmed that his posts originated from the concerns of people he represented, and who accused the assembly of slow implementation of their concerns.
“Yes, my people expressed concerns why some roads had not received funding yet there was a budget for them which I posted innocently,” he said.
He did not confirm nor deny that the Roads CEC was his close relative despite them coming from the same home.
Mboha said that he was ready to appear before the Powers and Privileges committee when the assembly resumes from recess where he would spill the beans in the public and media glare.
Following the announcement that Mboha was to be grilled in the assembly on Friday, irate supporters of Mboha gathered around the assembly precincts to express solidarity.
The grill was to be chaired by Usonga MCA Sylvester Madialo standing in for speaker George Okode.
They claimed that the motion was a witch hunt planned and orchestrated by “fishy” leaders out to malign their MCAs name for political expediency.
(Edited by R.Wamochie)