Nairobi MCAs told to follow law to get car and house loans

Nairobi County Assembly Majority Leader Abdi Guyo who has said that the law demands that loans and mortgages approved by the assembly must have security. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Majority Leader Abdi Guyo told the Nation Wednesday MCAs wanted to get the loans and mortgages illegally.

  • He denied that MCAs boycotted the assembly over the loan matter.

  • Karura MCA Joseph Wambugu said most members did not have logbooks or titles because they are first-time MCAs.

Nairobi County Assembly sessions were adjourned on Tuesday as members demanded a quick resolution to a row over mortgages and car loans.

MCAs converged outside the chamber demanding to be told why they had been asked to surrender logbooks and title deeds in order to secure the services.

Majority Leader Abdi Guyo told the Nation Wednesday MCAs wanted to get the loans and mortgages illegally.

Every ward rep is entitled to a Sh3 million mortgage and Sh2 million car loan following a 2014 presidential directive.

Mr Guyo said the law demands that loans and mortgages approved by the assembly must have security.

“If you go to a car dealer, just get the agreement and bring the logbook to the assembly. The same applies to a house. The rules are clear and we cannot bend the law,” Mr Guyo said.

QUORUM

He denied that MCAs boycotted the assembly over the loan matter, saying the bell had been rung several times but there was a lack of quorum, forcing the Speaker to adjourn sittings.

The Majority Leader said he had already talked to MCAs and urged them to follow the right procedures if they needed the loans.

Karura MCA Joseph Wambugu said most members did not have logbooks or titles because they are first-time ward representatives.

“Someone says we provide the documents yet many of us are poor. We have never owned cars or land,” Mr Wambugu said, adding that payslips should be their collateral.

Kitisuru MCA Alvin Palapala said the county leadership was being unfair to them for demanding collateral.

His Laini Saba counterpart Cecilia Achieng raised concern over the status of the loan “since the House is going on recess”.

Karen MCA and former majority chief David Mberia said members were agitated since the leadership has failed to call an informal meeting to address the issue.

Members in the last assembly were not asked for security when applying for loans or mortgages,” Mr Mberia told journalists.