MCAs now train their guns on county speakers, majority leaders

Kenya: County Assembly Speakers and Majority Leaders are having sleepless nights as increasingly assertive MCAs turn their spotlight on them. Assembly leaders in several counties have been hounded out of office in controversial circumstances, while the fate of others, including Speakers, hangs in the balance.

Last week, Nakuru County Assembly Majority Leader Mwaura Njenga was kicked out of office in a meeting that took less than 10 minutes by MCAs, accusing him of poor leadership.

Interestingly, the plot to oust him was hatched behind his back by some of his erstwhile allies. His removal came just days after the Office of the Leader of Majority was allocated Sh20 million in the 2014/15 budget. The funds, the MCAs said, would empower the office so that it can serve them effectively.

Temporary reprieve

TNA and URP MCAs put their rivalry over the running of the Nakuru Water and Sewerage Services Company (Nawasco) aside and resolved to kick Mwaura and his deputy Leah Serem out. Their decision was then communicated to Speaker Susan Kihika by the majority chief whip during an assembly session.

Naivasha East Ward Representative Samuel Waithuki was elected the new Leader of Majority while Paul Chebor of URP was chosen as his deputy. Mwaura’s ouster came barely a month after Nyamira County Assembly Speaker Peter Kingoina and Majority Leader Beauttah Omanga were removed by their assembly following a controversial insurance tender. Kiambu Speaker Nick Ndichu was the first County Assembly Speaker to be thrown out of office last February after he fell out with MCAs.

In Isiolo, embattled Speaker Mohammed Tubi got a reprieve after the High Court in Meru allowed him to remain in office as his case is heard. The MCAs pushing for his removal accuse him of lack of decorum, removing his shoes and smoking during assembly sessions. Some MCAs in Baringo County have also been threatening their speaker William Kamket with impeachment over alleged incitement.

But while governors have admitted to living on the edge due to blackmail by the MCAs, the fate of county assemblies speakers and majority leaders is more precarious, as they are directly at the mercy of the MCAs.

In Nakuru, Mwaura waged a futile fight to save his seat, claiming his removal was illegal as he was not accorded a chance to be heard. His pleas fell on deaf ears after Deputy Speaker Samuel Tonui ruled that the assembly could not adjourn its business to discuss party or coalition issues. “The matter is a party or coalition affair, and we cannot adjourn House business to discuss such issues,” the Deputy Speaker ruled.

Poor leadership

Although the MCAs cited poor leadership as the main reason for Mwaura’s removal, it has emerged his involvement in some multi-million shilling projects by foreign investors in the county could have played a role. Mwaura was allegedly involved in the planned establishment of a state-of-the-art trauma centre in Nakuru town by an Israeli NGO.

“Most of us felt his involvement lacked transparency and he was not giving us the true picture on some projects, yet he would lobby us to support them,” an MCA said.

But the ousted majority leader termed the allegations baseless, saying the issue had never come before the chamber. Mwaura attributed his woes to his opposition to the construction of a Sh110 million office complex in the assembly to accommodate the MCAs.

“I opposed the idea as I did not think it is a priority. It is a luxury we cannot afford, but that is when the plot to remove me was hatched,” he added.

But Biashara Ward MCA Stephen Kuria dismissed the claims that the plot was a witch-hunt and accused him of failing in his role as the Jubilee leader in the county assembly. “He was incompetent and could not defend the Government position and the coalition decided to remove him and have someone who is up to task,” the MCA said.

Kuria, who is the assembly’s Justice and Legal Affairs Committee chair, said majority leaders serve at the discretion of MCAs from the majority party and in accordance with the Standing Orders. “Our Standing Orders are very clear that if the majority of members from the majority party or coalition want him out, then he loses his position pronto,” he said.

Party tribulations

The Mosop Ward Representative’s frosty relationship with the Speaker and County Assembly Clerk Joseph Malinda, who are very influential in the chamber, complicated his situation. Kihika, however, said she had nothing to do with his tribulations, and that it was purely a political party affair that she should not be dragged into.

The decision to replace Mwaura was backed by more than 55 MCAs in the Jubilee-controlled assembly and involved horse trading between TNA and URP MCAs. While TNA agreed to have Mwaura replaced with Waithuki, the URP wing settled on Chebor, a long serving Councillor in the defunct Nakuru County Council, as the deputy.

TNA and URP parties have been feuding over the running Nawasco, with URP MCAs supporting sacked Managing Director John Cheruiyot. The decision to sack Cheruiyot  irked the MCAs, who exchanged blows at the water company’s head office last month.