Governor Ngilu’s supporters paralyse assembly

A group believed to be allied to Governor Charity Ngilu on Thursday afternoon caused chaos outside the County Assembly as they protested against “saboteurs of development”.

The protesters engaged the police in running battles outside Kitui County Assembly Chambers for almost an hour.

The youthful men and women attempted to barricade the assembly’s gate to block members of the county assembly (MCAs) from accessing the chambers.

The protesters lit bonfires at the gate and tried to forcefully enter into the chambers before armed security personnel intervened.

The police lobbed tear gas canisters as they engaged the rioters in running battles in Kitui town.

The protest happened moments before the assembly sat to debate on removal of Treasury Executive Mary Nguli who had been cited over integrity issues and for misconduct.

The House was also scheduled to discuss a motion on the proposed supplementary budget Bill where Ngilu’s administration is seeking for review of the budget and allocation of funds to her pet projects.

The Budget and Appropriations Committee chairman and Tseikuru MCA Boniface Kilaa Kasina was to move the notices against Ms Nguli and the supplementary Bill.

Delayed sittings

However, the House’s sitting, which was supposed to start at 2.30pm, delayed due to the chaos.

Before the fracas, the governor had launched a programme within the town where the county government will grade roads in the 40 wards in the county.

It is after the function that a section of the crowd ran towards the chambers to protest against saboteurs of Ngilu projects.

After order was restored, MCAs started streaming into the chambers.

Later, County Assembly Speaker George Ndotto and Majority Leader Peter Kilonzo condemned organisers and executors of the chaos outside the chambers.

Mr Ndotto termed the chaos unfortunate, uncalled for and an act of mischief.

And Mr Kilonzo claimed the chaos were organised by a clique that wanted to cover its misdeeds under the cover of working for the common mwananchi.

The chaos came a day after Ngilu asked Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka to tame his “antagonising party brigade”.

The governor accused some Wiper politicians, including MCAs from her county, of witchhunt, adding that they were planning to use Mr Kalonzo’s influence to frustrate her. She accused the ward representatives of trying to derail her development agenda at the grassroots. At 4pm, Mr Kasina finally tabled the motion after protracted opposition from MCAs allied to Ngilu’s Narc party.

The House was further disrupted by pro-Ngilu MCAs who banged tables, demanding the notice to be dropped from the order paper.

A furious Ndotto stood his ground and declared that the notice of the motion was properly presented.