Mombasa MCAs plot to oust majority leader

By Willis Oketch

Mombasa, Kenya: Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho has said persistent wrangles at the county’s assembly were taking a toll on his development agenda.

This even as it emerged that a section of Members of the County Assembly have hatched a plot to impeach the Majority Leader Khamis Mwabashiri.

Mr Joho said there has been ‘petty wrangles’ at the county assembly at the expense of development and urged the leaders to focus on the problems facing the electorates.

“We cannot achieve any development if we continue wrangling among ourselves over petty things, which can be resolved,” said Joho over the weekend. He added that some of the differences in the House could be solved without the leaders ‘antagonising’ each other. 

Over 27 MCAs last Friday signed a communiqué accusing Mr Mwabashiri of failing to execute his mandate effectively leading to the delay in the disbursement of the bursary funds.

They also accused Mwabashiri of failing to stop the inflation of prices of the vehicles the county is planning to purchase from Sh20 million to Sh34 million. Efforts to get Mwabashiri to comment were futile as his phones went unanswered. It was said he was held up in a meeting in Watamu, Malindi.

The MCAs led by Kazandani Ward Rep Mohamed Chiro said they would move a motion of no confidence in the House to force Mwabashiri’s removal. This comes barely a month after Kongowea Ward representative tried to table a motion to impeach the county’s Finance Executive Khalid Walid, accusing him of incompetence and failure to advice the governor on financial matters.

The notice for the motion to impeach Mr Walid, however, failed to take off after Deputy Speaker Rashid Mswabaha ruled that it was wrongly introduced in the assembly because the House Business Committee did not list it as one of the agenda.

County Assembly Speaker Thudeis Rajwai said those planning to impeach the majority leader must follow the procedure, including getting approval from the party.