Matopeni MCA Abdi Guyo got a reprieve on Thursday after the High Court halted the decision by the Assembly to suspend him for allegedly skipping 11 sittings.
Justice Weldon Korir has allowed Guyo to access the Assembly pending the hearing and determination of his case.
Last month, Guyo got conservatory orders barring his suspension but the Assembly suspended him and he was removed from all committees.
In his ruling, Judge Korir suspended the decision of the Assembly Select Committee of Powers and Privileges that was adopted by the Assembly pending the hearing of Guyo’s case.
“For avoidance of doubt, he shall have unrestrained access to the Assembly and its precincts and shall enjoy all privileges and benefits pertaining to the office of a member of the Nairobi City County Assembly pending the hearing and determination of his petition,” the judge ruled.
Justice Korir further held that it was in the public interest to allow Guyo’s application on the grounds that the residents of Matopeni will have no representation during the four months he will be out of the Assembly.
“He has indeed already suffered prejudice following his expulsion from the Assembly as a result of what he alleges is a flawed process,” he ruled.
In his view, the judge noted that the case before him calls for interrogation during the hearing of the petition because Guyo claims that there was no formal complaint regarding his alleged no-attendance of more than eight Assembly sittings.
However, the judge declined to find Speaker Beatrice Elachi to be in contempt of court for going ahead and suspending him from the assembly even though there was a court order barring her.
The court agreed with Elachi that the order she was given was for Abdi Hassan Guyo when in assembly records he is Abdi Ibrahim Hassan.
“The orders were therefore not issued in the names of the person in the records of the Assembly. For that reason alone, it is difficult to pin down the Speaker on the ground that she disobeyed the Court order,” the court noted.
Guyo and Elachi have been at loggerheads.
Last year, the two appeared before their party - Jubilee - officials in an effort to resolve their issues.
