Nairobi Assembly suspends 4 MCAs for unethical conduct

Nominated Member of Nairobi County Assembly Mary Njambi has been suspended for 10 working days for unethical conduct.

Ms Njambi, known for mafirifiri and this is kirimino, (pepper spray and this is criminal) phrases and two of her nominated colleagues – Laura Mwende and Nancy Muthami, have been suspended for their roles in the chaos that rocked the Assembly on September 10, 2018 as MCAs attempted to evict the then Speaker Beatrice Elachi from office.  

The three were kicked out after the House adopted recommendations of a report by the Assembly’s Powers and Privileges Committee.

The committee said that the conduct of the three, on September 10, would reflect negatively on the dignity and integrity of the Assembly and its members.

In their defense, the three said they only became hysterical after Ms Elachi sprayed them with pepper. They also denied being under the influence of any alcoholic drinks.

ACTING SPEAKER

Eight other MCAs were, however, warned. The nine include Majority Leader Abdi Guyo, his minority counterpart Elias Otieno, Peter Imwatok, Peter Wahinya, Antony Kiragu, Mwangi Njihia, Redson Otieno and Osman Khalif.

At the same time, nominated MCA Mary Ariviza was suspended for 21 working days for her conduct during the elections of an acting Speaker on September 25 last year.

She is said to have protested after being nominated by Mr Imwatok to contest for the position. Her protestations on the floor of the House almost turned ‘ugly’ as she fought Assembly orderlies.

She claimed that her constitutional right was violated since she was never consulted. She claimed everyone knew she was “team Elachi”.

MISS ALLOWANCES

The suspended MCAs will miss allowances that come with committee and Assembly sittings.

Those suspended for 10 days will miss 10 committee sittings and six Assembly sittings while Ms Ariviza will miss 15 committee sittings and nine Assembly sittings.

“Procedure and practice demand that such members be declared strangers and suspended from county service according to Standing Order 115 of the Assembly. They should withdraw from the precincts of the Assembly and forfeit right to access and allowances payable during such time,” said Deputy Speaker John Kamangu on Wednesday after the report was adopted.  

The report tabled by sectoral committee chair Naftaly Mathenge revealed that the MCAs violated provisions of Standing Order 114 (2) (a) and Section 17 (3) (g) and Section 16 (e) of the County Assemblies Powers and Privileges Act, 2017.

APOLIGISE

The suspended ward reps have been ordered to apologise to the Assembly and its members on their return. The inquiry revealed that a secret meeting was held before the chaos that preceded the attempt to evict Ms Elachi from her office.

The committee, however, could not ascertain whether eviction of Ms Elachi was part of the day’s agenda at the informal meeting.

SMALL FISH

However, a section of members claimed that the committee only targeted the ‘small fish’ and not the ‘ring leaders’. Highrise MCA Kennedy Oyugi rejected the report saying that all those who took part in the chaos should have been punished.

Embakasi MCA Michael Ogada called for caution while making such harsh decisions. He said that the MCAs should have been warned before being suspended.

Minority leader, while defending the committee’s decisions, said that all members must be held accountable for their actions.