Fresh trouble as Assembly schemes to impeach Elachi

Alvin Mwangi and David Ndolo

Nairobi County Assembly Speaker Beatrice Elachi could be in trouble once again after it emerged that a section of Members of the County Assembly (MCAs) plan to remove her from office.

The MCAs who have met several times accuse her of running the Assembly single-handedly. This is likely to deepen the ongoing wrangles that have rocked the Assembly.

People Daily can authoritatively report that some MCAs have been having secret meetings to plan on how Elachi should be thrown out of the House.

“We are disturbed by her style of leadership. How can a whole Speaker be working with Minority Whip and forgets to consult other leaders like Majority whip,” said a City MCA who sought anonymity.

According to the MCA, Elachi has made it so tough for some of them by issuing an order blocking all MCAs affiliated to Sonko from accessing the Assembly.

Last week, Dandora 3 Ward MCA Charles Thuo, questioned Elachi’s motives in calling for a Special Sitting to discuss a policy framework for revenue collection and management in the county without involving him.

In a heated session that saw Thuo expelled from the House for a week, the former Majority Leader accused Elachi of operating outside the Assembly’s Standing Orders. 

According to Thuo, since Elachi was reinstated, the Assembly has never been put to order, as she has been either fighting MCAs or the governor.

“Elachi is the reason behind all these problems we are experiencing as a county.

We reinstated her hoping that things will be getting better but she has continued to divide the county each and every day,” said Thuo.

Legal showdown 

Thuo said Elachi has been claiming to get instructions from President Uhuru Kenyatta on when to call for a Special Sitting on this crucial Bill.

 “If we continue like this as an Assembly we will petition the President to remove Elachi.

We will not allow her to continue leading us like a kangaroo Assembly,” said Maringo/Hamza Ward MCA Mark Nd’ungu.

According to Ndungu, the county stares at a legal showdown if it will go ahead and pass the Bill without following the Standing Orders.

The bill seeks to examine the county’ revenue collection and management and proposes solutions that will enhance its revenue collection for better planning and service provision and resourcing.

 Early this year, The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) was given the mandate to collect revenue in Nairobi County in line with the transfer of crucial county government functions to the national government.

In the deal, KRA was set as the principal revenue collector in the capital city, taking charge of parking fees, business licenses, land lease fees and buildings’ approval charges.

The transfer agreement, which was signed at State House in Nairobi on February 25, gives the national government the responsibility of collecting and remitting all revenues accruing from the transferred functions.