Nairobi County Assembly clashes with executive over occupancy of City Hall offices
Members of the Nairobi County Assembly, led by Speaker Alex ole Magelo, meet with Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph ole Nkaissery on November 24, 2016. They are seeking the minister’s protection in row pitting the assembly and the county executive over the occupancy of offices on the North Wing of City Hall. PHOTO | BERNARDINE MUTANU | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- The executive moved to court to annul Gazette notices that indicate the assembly is the bona fide occupier of the premises.
- But Mr Magelo said the assembly will not be cowed into relinquishing the premises.
- He said the offices are meant for operations of the assembly and its officers.
- Assembly members have asked Interior minister Joseph ole Nkaissery to “protect them from the executive and goons”.
Differences between the Nairobi City County executive and the county assembly escalated further Thursday as the war over the occupancy of City Hall continued.
County assembly members clashed with police and county inspectorate officers over use of the fourth floor in the northern wing of City Hall.
The assembly service board (ASB) had built a wall to block the executive from accessing the offices on the fourth floor, and the inspectorate officers had allegedly come to bring it down.
The floor is currently occupied by the Ratings and Audit departments and on Thursday, officers were blocked from accessing the premises.
According to a press statement by the County Assembly Speaker Alex ole Magelo, the executive was given two months from October 18, 2016 to vacate from the fourth floor.
However, the executive moved to court on November 18, 2016 to annul Gazette notices that indicate the assembly is the bona fide occupier of the premises.
But Mr Magelo said the assembly will not be cowed into relinquishing the premises which he said was meant for operations of the assembly and its officers.
However, when contacted by the Nation, acting County Secretary Robert Ayisi said the assembly was in contempt of court and threatened to take “further legal action”.
“The executive has a court order and the assembly is just defiant. We have offices there and our members cannot access them because the entrance is blocked. We shall go back to court,” said Dr Ayisi.
The ASB vowed not to work with the acting county secretary saying he is also in contempt of the assembly.
The confrontation has spilled over to the Ministry of Interior with county assembly members reaching out to minister Joseph ole Nkaissery urging him to “protect them from the executive and goons”.
They complained that they felt threatened by the executive, a matter which Mr Nkaissery said was going to be handled expeditiously.
“I have been fully briefed by the Speaker and the majority leader about the insecurity in the assembly premises,” said Mr Nkaissery.
He said he has directed the county security committee to meet immediately to discuss the matter and to provide 24-hour security to the Nairobi County Assembly premises starting from November 24.
Mr Nkaissery directed ASB to give the number of security personnel it needed for day and night operations which will be forwarded to the Inspector-General of Police Joseph Boinnet.
The minister asked the Nairobi County executive to follow the law.
