Ward reps vow to kick out Nyong’o man again

Ward reps in Kisumu have begun the process of kicking out the county’s Energy and Industrialisation executive Nerry Achar from office.

This is the second time Achar (above) is facing an impeachment process after the county assembly voted him out of the Finance docket in 2019.

He challenged his impeachment in court, but the case was dismissed in March this year.

Achar, however, found his way back to the Cabinet after Governor Anyang’ Nyong’o appointed him to the Energy and Industrialisation department.

Lodged an appeal

Now the county official is facing a second fight to save his job afterwards reps insisted that he cannot defend budgetary allocations for his department because he stands impeached.

Speaker Elisha Oraro has constituted an 11-member committee to investigate if Achar had lodged an appeal in court over his first impeachment before the assembly starts the process of kicking him out a second time.

The MCAs have threatened to frustrate the county budget until Achar leaves the post.

The debate was started by Nyalenda A Ward Rep Jackton Ogendo who described Achar as a “stranger”, and insisted that he had been impeached.

During the Tuesday sitting, the ward reps engaged in heated debate on why Achar was holding another docket after he was impeached from his previous position on grounds of incompetence.

Ogendo, who raised the concerns, claimed that Achar did not have the capacity to handle the department he is currently in charge of.

“We impeached Achar and we are wondering why he is still in the Cabinet. I am representing my constituents and I am concerned why a person we impeached is heading another department,” he said.

Other ward reps who also questioned Achar’s position in Nyong’o’s Cabinet vowed that they would not approve allocations to his department.

They argued that Achar’s impeachment was lawful and that he should not have been sent to head another department.

However, Market Milimani Ward Rep Seth Kanga defended Achar, and advised the county assembly to first check if the executive had challenged his impeachment in the Court of Appeal before they discuss his fate.

Speaker Oraro directed the committee that was picked to check the status of Achar’s case to table its report in two weeks’ time, on July 2.

Attempts to reach Achar for comment were futile as he did not respond to our calls or text messages.