Mombasa Transport executive Tawfiq Balala is finally off the hook after he was cleared of any wrongdoing by the committee investigating him over incompetence.
The all-clear was a victory for Governor Hassan Joho who didn't want MCAs to bother his executives with testifying before assembly committees. The contest turned into a battle between Joho and MCAs who said they were not a rubber stamp.
This may mark the end of gruesome sessions and tension between the county assembly and executive, which has lasted some weeks as an impeachment threat hung over the executive’s head.
The Star reported early this week of a truce that had been brokered by Kilifi Governor Amason Kingi and his Nairobi counterpart Mike Sonko, which has seen the situation return to normalcy.
Led by chairman Fadhili Mwalimu Makarani, members Athman Rama Mwamwiri, Milka Moraa Ngare, Ali Omar Shariff, Faith Boniface Mwende said most of the allegations levelled against Balala were unsubstantiated.
The committee, comprised of MCAs, was appointed on March 26 after a motion by Jomvu Kuu MCA Salim Shebe was supported by over two-thirds of the assembly. They voted forBalala’s impeachment on March 19.
Makarani said, “The select committee, having investigated allegations of incompetence and gross violation of the Constitution and other laws and received submissions from witnesses and Balala himself, has considered the evidence adduced and the proofs thereof.
"[We] unanimously agreed that all the allegations were unsubstantiated and therefore has recommended that no further proceedings should be taken,”
Among the complaints was insufficient street lighting in the county despite the department having been allocated funds in the 2017-18 and current financial year for street lighting.
They had also accused Balala of failure to properly manage the collection of revenue generated from parking fees, billboards and other advertisement activities. It noted a 0.3 per cent decline in revenue collection.
Balala was also accused of failure to implement projects and programmes as required by the Annual Development Plan.
The committee said no member of the public appeared to testify; only three MCAs testified.
“Most of the evidence adduced by the few witnesses had no direct bearing on the allegations in the House resolution on the impeachment of Balala. Nevertheless, the committee admitted it as the witnesses believed it to be relevant," the committee said.
They added, "The verification of their evidence did not substantiate their claims. Balala’s written submissions and supporting annexures were also scrutinised to verify for authenticity and truthfulness."
The committee noted that a member of the public had raised various claims on social media and in the interest of transparency and public participation, they admitted some of the allegations.
Over claims that Balala had initially failed to honour summonses by the committee on Transport, he denied receiving any summons.
Balala was also accused of funds mismanagement, improprieties in the procurement of bobcat vehicles, non-installation of security cameras which had been already paid for and improprieties in road projects.
It was claimed that Changamwe Industrial Area Road was budgeted for Sh36 million but actual expenditure was Sh32,848,830.
Balala, through a written submission and his lawyer, enumerated his achievements, including building 100km of roads and increasing street lighting from 7,000 to 20,000 lamps.
“The allegations levelled against me are unfair as they were unsubstantiated. I believe in in the rule of law and was looking forward to continuing with the spirit of co-operation with the assembly,” Balala said.
Thirty-eight out of the 42 MCAs voted to have the executive removed. This was the first time the MCAs defied Joho's last-minute attempt to have them drop the impeachment motion.
Joho had said the assembly was rightfully executing its oversight role and only hoped the process is done fairly.
