Kakamega county assembly clerk Laban Atemba has rubbished his suspension in what is likely to escalate the leadership wrangles in the assembly.
He was suspended by the County Assembly Service Board.
But Atemba said assembly speaker Morris Buluma stands suspended and therefore lacks the authority to suspend him until he is cleared.
Atemba’s suspension was followed by the unprecedented resignation of majority leader Joel Ongoro, citing frustration and interference from the county executive.
MCAs exchanged fists on November 17 after their attempts to remove Buluma failed following withdrawal of the impeachment motion by Bunyala Central MCA Benson Samba.
The ward reps fought again the following day after the mace went missing and the assembly business could not continue.
The MCAs accused Buluma of financial impropriety, absenteeism and neglect of duty.
“I write to convey the decision of the Kakamega County Assembly Service Board today (Monday) to suspend you from its service in accordance with section 22 of the County Services Board Act No 24 of 2017 for a period of 60 days to facilitate investigations,” reads the suspension letter.
The board accuses Atemba of failing to remit statutory deductions from members' salaries, including Lapfund, Laptrust, NHIF, KRA and giving inaccurate information to the board on the status of remittance.
The board also accuses Atemba of wrongly promoting members of staff and awarding benefits without its knowledge and authorisation.
It also accuses the clerk of failing to account for money received on behalf of the county assembly for the months of August and September.
But Atemba said that although he attended the board meeting that is purported to have suspended him, he was not invited as the subject of the meeting but to discuss financial matters.
“We finished the meeting as usual and I left only to receive the purported suspension letter on WhatsApp. The meeting never resolved to suspend me. The speaker took orders from elsewhere and not the board,” he said.
“They acted outside the law and it’s malicious. A suspended speaker cannot carry out the functions of that office. He was suspended and should wait to be cleared before he can come back and do as he wishes,” Atemba said.
He claimed that the speaker locked the assembly gates and offices and disappeared with the mace when MCAs wanted to table a motion to impeach him a week ago.
Trouble in the assembly leadership seemed imminent on Tuesday morning after Ongoro’s resignation.
“I have decided to resign as the assembly majority leader and concentrate on the electorate and family. If you’re given a job you should be given time to do it, but when the executive wants to be MCA, speaker and clerk, the best thing is to leave,” he said.
Meanwhile, ODM chairman John Mbadi has served the party MCAs who participated in the fracas during the failed impeachment motion with show cause letters to explain why they should not be disciplined.
“Your general comportment and open defiance of a party directive is a gross violation of Article 5(3) (1) (e) of the party constitution, the party's code of conduct and your standing as a party official,” the letter dated December 1 reads.
“By this letter, you are hereby given notice to show cause in writing within seven (7) days hereof as to why disciplinary action should not be taken against you,” the letter adds.
Edited by A.N
