Nomination dispute forces Nyamira Assembly to adjourn

A dispute among Ward Reps in Nyamira County has forced the Assembly to adjourn, placing residents at a loss of services.

The problem arose from a squabble over nominations. Last evening Speaker Mofat Teya and Nyamira ODM Youth League Dennis Marube now want the orange party and the Political Parties Dispute Tribunal to resolve the row.

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On Thursday, the speaker apologised to residents for the wrangles and accused ODM of causing confusion in the house.

He explained that the party nominated Damaris Nyarangi and Irene Nyakerario leading to a legal battle between them.

Ms Nyakerario was sworn in three weeks ago after a Nyamira court revoked Ms Nyarangi’s nomination.

“As a house that makes laws, I had to follow the court order. Ms Nyakerario was then sworn in,” said the speaker,” Mr Teya.

However, Ms Nyarangi returned to court and sought stay orders which she was granted.

This led to confusion with the two MCAs attending house sittings.

“But the house had to be adjourned because with the two in the house, the house was illegally constituted,” he said.

He said no motion could be approved in an unconstitutionally constituted house and to caution that, the house was adjourned.

“We are supposed to be 36 in number, but with an extra person, it meant that any motion approved at the time could be legally challenged,” said Mr Teya.

A former employee of the electoral commission is accused to have caused the dispute after striking out Ms Nyakerario’s name from the list of the nominees and replacing it with another.

Ms Nyakerario’s name was in a list the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission published in the dailies on July 23, 2017.

But when the list was published in the Kenya Gazette to formalise the nominations, the name of Ms Damaris Nyarangi had replaced hers.

Ms Nyarangi is accused of having colluded with a now dismissed IEBC employee to alter the list. She has however denied the accusation.

She moved to Nyamira law courts to challenge a Kenya Gazette notice corrigendum that was published to delete her name and reinstate Ms Nyakerario.

But Ms Nyarangi had already been sworn in on September 7, 2017.

The court however threw out her case and revoked her nomination.

The speaker said the assembly moved to Nyamira law courts to seek interpretation for their orders.

“We agreed that Ms Nyarangi stays on until April 9 when the court will make the final determination of the matter,” said the speaker.

He said the house will resume on Tuesday next week as they have reached an agreement with the courts.

Nyamira Youth League ODM leader Dennis Marube said it was unfair for Nyamira residents to miss on the county assemblies services due to an error caused by ODM headquarters.

“We are urging them to sort out the mess so that the local assembly resumes normal business,” he said.