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Kenya: Handshake Wars Erupt at Nairobi County Assembly

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5 years ago

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Jubilee and ODM MCAs in Nairobi could be headed for a nasty fallout following a row over leadership of the assembly’s public accounts committee.

The battle, which threatens to put to test the Handshake spirit at the city assembly, follows a move by the Jubilee side to instigate the removal of the watchdog committee’s chairperson Wilfred Odalo, an ODM MCA with 15 MCAs, three from ODM and 12 from Jubilee appending their signatures.

But in a quick retaliation, the Raila Odinga-led party withdrew its membership at the committee in a move to paralyze the committee’s operations.

In a letter by Minority Whip Peter Imwatok, dated May 4, 2021; the minority party withdrew 12 of its members from the watchdog committee citing intimidation and coercion of members of the committee into signing for the removal of Odalo as the committee’s chairperson.

But there is more. Trouble began when the assembly split in the middle early last month over payments to lawyers, AAR Insurance Kenya-City Hall staff medical scheme, and Covid-19 relief food program.

What followed was the collection of signatures to remove Imwatok from his minority whip position with the exercise led by Highrise MCA Kennedy Oyugi, ODM MCA.

The primary mandate of the committee is to oversight expenditure by the county government and its entities and thus is chaired by an MCA from the opposition side.

Imwatok said that the position is the preserve of the minority side at the assembly which nominates the member(s) who is qualified to be a chairperson of any select committee.