Nairobi MCAs begin move to impeach assembly Speaker
Makongeni MCA Peter Imwatok addresses voters in Nairobi on September 5, 2015. FILE PHOTO | JAMES EKWAM | NATION MEDIA GROUP.
What you need to know:
- Makongeni MCA Peter Imwatok says his impeachment motion has attracted support from both Jubilee and Cord MCAs, having garnered 57 signatures.
- At least one third of the 127 members need to sign the petition to impeach for it to be approved for debate.
- “I have support from 21 Jubilee and 35 Cord MCAs who believe that the Speaker should be impeached as he is serving his personal interests at the assembly,” Mr Imwatok said by phone.
Members of the Nairobi County Assembly (MCAs) have started the process of impeaching Speaker Alex ole Magelo for alleged incompetence.
Makongeni MCA Peter Imwatok says his impeachment motion has attracted support from both Jubilee and Cord MCAs, having garnered 57 signatures.
At least one third of the 127 members need to sign the petition to impeach for it to be approved for debate.
“I have support from 21 Jubilee and 35 Cord MCAs who believe that the Speaker should be impeached as he is serving his personal interests at the assembly,” Mr Imwatok said by phone.
Mr Imwatok blamed the Speaker for the chaos at the assembly last week as MCAs made their first attempt to table an impeachment motion against Governor Evans Kidero.
Mr Imwatok said the Speaker was absent during the tabling of the motion, leaving the deputy Speaker to preside over the event.
“The chaos that have been experienced in the assembly is because the Speaker decided to delegate a serious motion to impeach the governor to the deputy Speaker — he should have been there himself," he said.
The Makongeni MCA, in his motion, accuses the Speaker of eroding the dignity, character and esteem of MCAs.
"We are concerned that the Speaker has failed in his duty as enshrined in the Constitution to protect the dignity, honour and respect of this assembly," the motion reads.
PARTISAN INTERESTS
He added that the Speaker has been partisan as he has openly ignored contributions by some members in the assembly.
Mr Imwatok said the motion is in the clerk’s office and will be tabled in the House on Tuesday, at the same time Dr Kidero will be appearing to defend himself against his proposed impeachment.
Meanwhile, the assembly’s public service board has locked Majority Chief Whip David Mberia (Cord) out of his office for “misbehaving” during the tabling of the motion to impeach Dr Kidero.
Speaking to the Nation, Mr Mberia said he had not been informed that his office had been taken away by the service board.
“I am now working on the corridors after I was told that my office was taken away from me [because] I misbehaved in the assembly chambers,” he said.
