Blood and tears over Nairobi Town Clerk Gakuo

A number of people were on Thursday injured as Nairobi councillors attempted to eject Town Clerk John Gakuo from office.

The bloody confrontation between the councillors and city council askaris (security officers) left at least five councillors and the guards with gaping wounds. It only ended after police dispersed the rowdy councillors using teargas and batons.

The injured were stabbed after the confrontation degenerated into a free-for-all tussle. Trouble started shortly after a press conference addressed by Nairobi Mayor Godfrey Majiwa.

Mr Majiwa, accompanied by more than 40 councillors, accused Mr Gakuo and his officers of mismanaging the council. The councillors vowed to evict Mr Gakuo and other council officers for allegedly making the council lose more Sh100 million.

Armed with hammers and other weapons, the councillors left the Mayor’s Parlour chanting “Gakuo must go! Gakuo must go!”, as they marched to his office.

‘‘He has to move out now, this is not his personal business,” shouted one councillor who was brandishing a hammer. However, as the group neared his office, it was confronted by council askaris and a fight ensued.

Some councillors who had slipped into the clerk’s office hurled chairs and stones at the guards who tried to eject them. The askaris called for police reinforcement, which arrived immediately, dispersing the councillors.

Councillor Michael Obonyo was arrested but later freed, while his colleague Simba Arati, who said he was stabbed, recorded a statement. A source said councillors hatched the plot to remove the clerk after they were allegedly denied Sh60,000 to attend a funeral of Councillor Robert Achacha of Kariobangi in Nyanza over the weekend.

Mr Majiwa, however, said they are angered by corruption, which had made the authority lose millions of shillings. The mayor showed journalists bogus cheques allegedly used to siphon money from council accounts.

However, Mr Gakuo denied that the council had lost money through issuance of personal cheques by clients. He said the council did not accept personal cheques.

“Sometimes cheques issued by companies bounce but they are returned and the firms made to pay. The bouncing cheques are normally followed until the companies issue proper ones,” Mr Gakuo said by phone.