Litigation costs, salaries for two speakers weigh on Nyamira Assembly

When Nyamira Assembly MCAs exchanged blows and kicks at the Floor of the Assembly following protests over the House Business which some said was screwed. [File, Standard] The County Assembly of Nyamira could be sagging under the burden of paying for two Speakers and settling huge litigation costs, after months of leadership wrangles ended. In the aftermath of the wrangles, which also spilt to the failed impeachment motions against Governor Amos Nyaribo, the Employment and Labour Relations Court (ELRC) as well as the High Court, have made infamous rulings that could carry heavy legal and financial implications to the House. But the most outstanding one is the Labour Court one, which made it clear that former Speaker Enock Okero was unlawfully removed from office, and so he stands to be paid all his dues up to the end of his contract in August 2027. The court affirmed an out-of-court consent that the Assembly struck with Okero, which would see the ousted Speaker paid all his salaries projected to August 2027 when his contract with the House was set to expire. The House will also settle his costs of the lawsuit. This simply means that the House will be paying Okero his dues, besides the current Speaker Thaddeus Nyabaro, who replaced him after the controversial ouster. According to the Consent, Okero would be paid an excess of Sh50 million. The Assembly will also be paying bills, which could be running into millions in respect to a suit that was filed by 10 MCAs who were wrongly dismissed or suspended by Speaker Nyabaro immediately after rising to seat. The 10 were a minority in a faction that was supporting the continued stay in office of Okero as the Speaker and therefore had resorted to holding their Assembly proceedings at the Bunge Mashinani sittings. At the ELRC Court, Justice Jacob Gakeri shuddered an attempt by the Assembly's advocate, Mokua Ndubi, to withdraw a consent that had been entered between the House and Okero over settlement of all his dues as the Speaker of the House, costs of the suit as well as any necessary compensation that may have arisen as a result of his illegal impeachment. According to the Court, Okero had been wrongly impeached even after the High Court had offered him protection. At the Nyamira High Court, Justice Thripsisa Cherere found Nyabaro at fault by dismissing the 10 MCAs on grounds that they failed to attend proceedings at the county assembly's gazetted premises in Nyamira Town for eight consecutive sittings against the law. The 10 were ejected from the Assembly in what was viewed as a move of vengeance after the June 10 ruling by the Bomet High Court that declared that Okero was duly impeached and that Nyabaro was the legal Speaker of the House. "The steps taken by the respondents to discipline and expel the petitioners were not supported by any constitutional or statutory authority. The close proximity between the conclusion of the leadership dispute and the initiation of disciplinary action suggests that the process was not grounded in a proper exercise of the Assembly's disciplinary mandate," Justice Thripsisa Cherere's judgment read in part. "As Speaker, the second respondent bore a constitutional and institutional responsibility to provide stable leadership during a period of significant internal turbulence. ''Instead, he proceeded to constitute a committee without requisite authority and at a time when the Assembly lacked a quorum, thereby undermining orderly governance. Such actions were inconsistent with the obligations of his office and did not advance the restoration of functional stability within the Assembly," the court said.

Litigation costs, salaries for two speakers weigh on Nyamira Assembly

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