Court to decide fate of ousted Nakuru county speaker

KENYA: Former Nakuru county assembly deputy speaker who was removed from office after a no confidence vote will know his fate today when the Employment and Labour Relations Court makes a ruling.

Samuel Tonui had challenged his removal from office on March 11 in a petition where he sued Assembly Speaker Susan Kihika.

During the motion for his removal, the county assembly descended into chaos with MCAs engaging in fistfights.

Tonui's successor was then elected within 24 hours after the chaos, prompting him to move to court.

In his petition, he argued his removal was riddled with irregularities and did not conform to the standing orders of the assembly.

Tonui's removal came after he allegedly led 32 MCAs who had signed a motion seeking Ms Kihika's impeachment, accusing her of being a dictator.

To counter the move, Kihika through a legal committee she chairs, brought amendments to the standing orders, leading to Mr Tonui's removal.

Tonui accused the county assembly clerk of plotting his removal through the amendments.

"They moved a motion to amend the standing orders providing for the removal of the speaker by simple majority and the amendments took effect the morning of my ouster," he told Labour court.

His lawyer Bernard Ngetich termed the county assembly as "having slipped into an abyss of lawlessness, transgressor of human rights and full of impunity".

Ngetich told court to quash the amended standing orders used to remove Tonui and reinstate him unconditionally with full salary, benefits and allowances from March 11.

But Kihika argued that Tonui's petition was ill-advised as the court had no powers to reverse the removal as there is no employer-employee relationship dispute.

She argued that she and the assembly members did not violate any employment rights and that the post of deputy speaker is filled through a political mechanism and his removal was a political procedure.

Tonui has, however, maintained that the court is empowered by Article 162 (2) of the Constitution, whereby Parliament established special courts (in this case ELRC) to hear and determine the dispute.