Blow to Alfred Mutua ouster motion as 31 MCAs fly to Dar

Machakos Governor Alfred Mutua, who said the motion to oust him was illegal. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • The assembly has 59 MCAs and a motion to oust the governor requires a two-thirds majority to sail through.

  • The MCAs flew out over the weekend and are staying at a Dar es Salaam hotel until after the impeachment motion is debated.

  • When asked to comment on the claims that he had sponsored the MCAs for the trip, Dr Mutua on Tuesday went personal.

The impeachment motion against Machakos Governor Alfred Mutua, which is scheduled to be debated on Wednesday, is likely to flop after 31 members of the county assembly (MCAs) opted out and travelled to Tanzania.

The assembly has 59 MCAs and a motion to oust the governor requires a two-thirds majority to sail through.

The MCAs flew out over the weekend and are staying at a Dar es Salaam hotel until after the impeachment motion is debated.

'SH500,000' BOOM

Asked to comment on claims that he had sponsored the MCAs for the trip, Dr Mutua on Tuesday went personal and responded through a text message: “I do not comment on frivolous propaganda. You should know better. Where did you get the figure and claims? Tell me so and so said and it shows here etc? Evidence!” he wrote.

"I cannot respond to 'there are claims' etc. It seems you want to elicit a response to support a story you are already doing. I am sending this to your editors. It would be good to discuss with them,” he added.

But according to Deputy Speaker Nathanael Nganga, who is not among those who travelled to Dar, the MCAs were paid Sh500,000 each for sustenance and each was given a ticket worth Sh150,000, amounting to Sh650,000.

28 REMAINING

A total of Sh20 million was used for the trip whose mission was unspecified, according to Mr Nganga.

Mr Nganga, however, maintained that the remaining 28 MCAs would proceed with the ouster Motion.

“The remaining 28 of us will prosecute the motion tomorrow because the issues involved are incriminating,” said Mr Nganga.

Had the MCAs been on official duty in Tanzania, he said, they would have their invitation letters approved by both the ministries of Devolution and Foreign Affairs in Nairobi, adding that this was not done.

LOCAL AGENCY

“We are recommending that [the] EACC investigate them because a local travel agency paid for the travel,” said Mr Nganga.

But Mbiuni Ward Rep Thomas Kasoa, who is also the minority leader, on Tuesday said the timing of the impeachment motion was wrong.

He said the remaining MCAs do not have the required quorum and it does not make sense for them to go ahead and debate the matter.

“The timing is wrong. If they feel they have no confidence in Governor Mutua and have the backing of the people, they should let him be voted out in the next elections,” Mr Kasoa told Nation.co.ke, adding that the assembly would be dissolved in April in readiness for the elections.

ROAD GIFT

Mr Kasoa said he had consulted his constituents, who warned him against supporting the impeachment plan because Dr Mutua's administration had tarmacked a road in his ward.

On the allegations that money was paid to the MCAs to drop the impeachment, Mr Kasoa dismissed it as propaganda, adding that even the MCAs who wanted to impeach the governor were demanding Sh1 million each in order to do it.

Dr Mutua has in the past alleged that the Kalonzo Musyoka-led Wiper Party was behind the scheme to impeach him.

Mr Kasoa said the trip to Tanzania was meant for bonding.

“It's just a normal trip for bonding. We have no issues to do with impeachment,” he said by phone.