Ousted speaker files appeal in fresh battle to reclaim his job

Former Kisumu County Assembly Speaker Onyango Oloo at Kisumu Law Courts on December 10, 2019. [File, Standard]

Former Speaker Onyango Oloo has now filed his appeal in a fresh quest to save his job, even as campaigns to replace him intensify.

Members of the County Assembly (MCAs) are expected to convene on Friday to elect Mr Oloo's replacement.

Oloo, who had expressed intention to challenge the decision by the industrial court that confirmed his impeachment, yesterday filed records he is seeking to rely on to save his job at the appellate court.

In his memorandum of appeal, Oloo has listed eight grounds against the ruling by the lower courts and has faulted the court for erring in law by dismissing his suit.

He claims the court failed to appreciate uncontested facts tabled before it.

Standing orders

Oloo has also accused the trial judge of failing to find that his removal from office violated Standing Orders and procedures.

In his suit that was dismissed at the lower court, Oloo had claimed his removal from office did not follow the right procedure and that he was not given adequate time to respond.

The former speaker had sought six orders, including stopping the County Assembly from implementing a resolution to impeach him.

Oloo was impeached on September 19, 2019 after being accused of abuse of office, unlawful suspension of MCAs and being linked to Lake Basin Mall scandal.

The trial Oloo is facing at the Nairobi Anti-Corruption court returned to haunt him after the judge ruled that the case had an inclination on the sanity of the office he held.

The decision was based on the precedence that had been set by Justice Mumbi Ngugi, who had declared in a past ruling that public officers charged with corruption should stay away from office.

The judge also noted that Hansard reports indicated that the speaker was given a chance to defend himself before the House after he was served with a notice of Motion of impeachment.

In his appeal, however, Oloo claims that the judge only considered “the sole ground of the corruption case the appellant (Oloo) was facing in the Milimani corruption case.”

His appeal comes at a time the County Assembly is already gearing up to elect his replacement, with four candidates, including two lawyers, already hitting the ground to woo MCAs to back them.

Eyeing speaker seat

They include acting speaker Elisha Oraro, and lawyers Kenneth Amondi and Jared Sala.

Mr Oraro is hoping the Assembly will confirm him as substantive speaker. He claimed in a past interview that he has restored sanity in the House.

The development is also set to provide a fresh headache for ODM, given that Mr Amondi has handled several cases involving the Orange party and the county government.

A few weeks before he was ousted from office, Oloo had the backing of almost all MCAs and had even managed to rally them to support his quest to construct a new assembly by pushing for an allocation in the 2019/20 budget.