A fresh battle is looming at the Nairobi County Assembly over the refusal by Speaker Beatrice Elachi to effect Jubilee Party leadership changes.
Led by Majority Leader Abdi Guyo and Majority Whip Paul Kados, Jubilee leaders have said the wait is over and that they will now go ahead and assume their offices.
They have said they will ignore Ms Elachi’s recent communication failing to recognise them and that they will proceed to take up their roles as mandated by the party.
They have accused Ms Elachi of blatant impunity and bias, having chosen to disregard the party’s communication on leadership changes at the assembly in April and May, a position which was re-affirmed by Secretary-General Raphael Tuju during a meeting with all Jubilee MCAs on Wednesday last week.
TAKE UP ROLES
“In the circumstances, and seeing as nothing will sway your bias, be advised therefore, that the party, having dispensed with these matters, and yourself having made the bias obvious and this office having complied with the provisions of Standing Order 20 to no avail, we shall each proceed to take up our roles as mandated by the Jubilee Party, and act as if your communication was never issued in the first place,” added the letter by Mr Kados dated June 11, 2020.
On Thursday last week, Ms Elachi said the “intended” changes by Jubilee had fallen short of requirements of provisions of the laws governing the assembly and the current interim leaders will continue serving the party.
This is after Mr Tuju had made it clear that the leadership changes made by the party were final, warning of disciplinary action on the Speaker and any other member opposed to the changes.
In her communication to the House, Ms Elachi argued that a party secretary-general has no role in communicating to the Speaker a decision to effect changes in the party’s House leadership with the same lying with the party’s whip as per Standing Order 20 (8) of the assembly.
LETTER TO ELACHI
However, Mr Kados pointed out that he wrote to the Speaker on April 15, 2020 communicating the changes with the letter being delivered to her office accompanied with the minutes and list of attendance indicating the two-thirds threshold.
But instead of communicating the changes during a sitting on April 17, 2020, said the Mihang’o MCA, the Speaker demanded that Mr Tuju write to her directly notifying her of the changes.
According to the new Whip, he communicated the new demand to the SG on May 12, 2020 through a letter, and Mr Tuju duly obliged by writing to the speaker communicating the changes on May 28, 2020.
However, the Speaker still refused to communicate the changes on June 2, 2020 when the assembly resumed from recess, saying she is reviewing the Mr Tuju’s letter and will take up the matter with the party leader for clarity and a that Jubilee group meeting be held before endorsing the changes.
“It would seem to any objective observer that in this matter, you are clearly and unequivocally conflicted and have erased any semblance of impartiality, even going by your practice in the recent past, specifically when the outgoing leadership was appointed in the interim as the party sought to restore sanity in its ranks and how speedily you expedited that process,” said Mr Kados.
GUYO’S REINSTATEMENT
Ms Ealchi had also faulted the reinstatement of Mr Guyo pointing out that having the Matopeni MCA as majority leader, yet he has been suspended for four assembly sittings months, would lead to paralysis of assembly business.
This is because a member who has been suspended from assembly sittings cannot assume a role of House leadership since such a member cannot transact business in the assembly.
But the new leadership hit back saying that the “purported suspension” had been stopped by the court.
The changes see Mr Guyo replacing Dandora Area 3 MCA Charles Thuo, who had been holding the position since November last year, as majority leader. He will be deputised Dandora Area 1 MCA Peter Wanyoike.
Mr Kados took over as majority whip replacing nominated MCA June Ndegwa and he will be deputised by South B MCA Waithera Chege.
Ziwani MCA Millicent Mugadi and California MCA Abdikadir Mohamed, in the process, also lost their positions as deputy majority leader and deputy majority whip respectively.