Elachi to take over house of ex-mayor in Lavington

Nairobi City County Speaker Beatrice Elachi. [File, Standard]

The Nairobi County Government is now considering refurbishing former mayor’s residence in Lavington and turn it into the official county speaker’s house.

Nairobi County Assembly service board yesterday told The Standard that it had resorted to the plan due to budgetary constraints.

Majority Leader and member of the County Assembly Public Service Board Abdi Guyo said the assembly had no budget to build a mansion for the speaker as earlier planned.

Mr Guyo said no funds were set aside for the said purpose in the Sh32 billion 2018/19 budget approved in June, this year.

“We are now urging the executive to surrender the former residence of the mayor so we can turn it into the speaker’s residence,” he said.

House allowances

The Salaries and Remuneration Commission has directed all 47 counties to stop paying house allowances to governors, deputy governors and speakers of county assemblies countrywide by June 30, 2019.

Currently, county speakers are entitled to a Sh150,000 house allowance.

However, in the 2017/2018 financial year, the county assembly had budgeted for the purchase of the speaker’s residence and even advertised for the tendering of the same. Wrangles pitting the clerk and the speaker however halted the procurement process.

The assembly had set aside  Sh150 million to go towards the purchase of the speaker’s mansion.

Nairobi mayors under the defunct City Council had a designated residence in Lavington. The property is worth Sh157 million and lies on 0.843 acres of land.

George Aladwa was the last mayor of the Nairobi City Council and was the first to occupy the Lavington mayor’s residence before the advent of devolution.