- On Tuesday, the Mombasa county assembly kicked off the house business as members approved committees.
- The business committee chaired by the county speaker Khatri Aharub has the mandate to oversee daily business of the house.
The new Mombasa county assembly leadership was approved on Tuesday, and is from next week expected to start working on new and pending bills.
Speaking during their first sitting, majority leader Athman Mwamiri said the new government took over what was left behind by the previous government including the pending bills.
“Among the challenges that we have are the pending bills but it is the responsibility of the government to ensure that they do the confirmation and credibility process before paying them,” he said.
“We will look at the existing debts to find out which ones are the correct ones and followed the right process of procurement or tender before approving them, because if someone took a loan to work for us as a government for the benefit of the public, he deserves to be paid,” he said.
Mombasa Governor Abdulswamad Nassir, during the official opening of the assembly last week, said he will present at least six bills before the MCAs for deliberation and approval.
On Tuesday, the Mombasa county assembly kicked off the house business as members approved committees.
The business committee chaired by the county speaker Khatri Aharub has the mandate to oversee daily business of the house.
Majority leader Mwamiri said that all the statements, motions, bills and petitioners will be passed by the business committee before they are put to the plenary for deliberations and other actions.
He said that the committee on selection, which was also approved by members and which he will chair, has a short life span because its mandate is to select members who will serve in different committees.
The role of the members will mostly be determined by the committee which will oversee them.
“The committee will be overseeing the executive directorate on their implementation of the budget and other projects which are intended to be performed or conducted to the residents of Mombasa,” he said.
The Likoni MCA said that the committee of selection also has a mandate of sitting and consulting with members to ensure that the house has other committees formed by next Tuesday.
This will enable the selected members of different committees to perform their duties, answer questions and statements from other members regarding each directorate as per the jurisdiction where members are from.
Mwamiri, who is serving his second term as MCA, said that he knows himself, has the potential and under the guidance of other members, he believes the third house shall work and deliver under his leadership as the majority leader in consultation with the chief whip and the speaker.
He said that they are ready as a house to vet Governor Abdulswamad Nassir’s cabinet and ensure that they give opportunity to those members who are qualified to take up the responsibility.
“We have a big agenda on the public that we took, we have plans on County Integrated Development Plan (CIDP) which gives the government five years to implement its role,” he said.
The majority leader said that in a meeting held with the county boss, he promised not to be in a hurry to introduce any new project until all the stalled projects from the previous government are complete.
“As a house we will give the governor support to ensure that all projects are done as he also works towards fulfilling what he promised the public during the campaigns,” he said.
The newly elected chief whip Priscilla Mumba, who is serving her third term as the Ganjoni MCA, said they will contribute in different motions and help the new members to understand their roles.
Edited by Henry Makori