Teargas, shouting match as Beatrice Elachi returns to City Hall

Beatrice Elachi (centre) in the office after the chaos by the mob that attempted to hound her out of office. Inset: People leave the office after a teargas canister was lobbed in the office. [Courtesy]

Nairobi County Speaker Beatrice Elachi today made a dramatic return to the assembly after a 13-month hiatus.

But even before she could draw the curtains in her office, her return was met with the same chaos that forced her out of office last year.

A section of Jubilee-affiliated Members of the County Assembly opposed to the return of the embattled speaker tried to forcefully evict her from office.

“If anything happens to me, just know it’s the Majority leader Hassan Guyo,” a furious Elachi retorted.

The legislators accused her of bias and imposing herself on them.

“You have been rejected by Dagoretti North constituents, we rejected you and you are trying to get a back through the backdoor," Majority leader Abdi Guyo shouted.

In the confrontation that was broadcast live on TV, glasses were shattered, tables were broken and chairs scattered across the room.

Police lobbed teargas canisters to disperse the crowd that caused the commotion.

A defiant Elachi had trouped to her City Hall-based office in the company of over 15 Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) leaders including Homa Bay Woman Representative Gladys Wanga.

Elachi said she had returned to restore sanity in the assembly, tame the ballooning travel expenses and rid it off the intimidation against women.

 “I have been the speaker all along and I have come back to bring sanity in the assembly,” she told journalists in her office.

Elachi was impeached on September 16, 2018, by some 103 MCAs in a motion filed by Waithaka MCA Antony Kiragu.

They said she had caused 'great embarrassment' to the county assembly. A section of the MCAs had accused her of undermining its authority, conflict of interest and abuse of office. But there were no dates of when she committed the offences, witnesses or documents supporting the claims.

The 46-year-old speaker was reinstated to her position in May 2019 by the Employment and Labour Relations Court.

Justice Maureen Onyango cited massive flaws when the MCAs sacked Elachi.

The judge ordered that she should get back to her office and she should get all benefits that had been withdrawn in full from the time she was impeached on September 16, 2018.