Mess and Accusations at Nairobi Assembly over frozen Bank accounts – Kenyan Business Feed

A new twist has emerged over the stalemate at the Nairobi assembly following the freezing of bank accounts by the Central Bank of Kenya.

Embattled clerk Edward Gichana accuses the assembly of a witch-hunt by dragging his name into a mess that he claimed was created by them.

Last week, the Nairobi assembly decried it had been grounded and had its operations frozen following the freezing of bank accounts.

This has led to the MCAs and county assembly staff going without salaries and basic staff needs for the premises for more than a month.

Speaker Benson Mutura claimed that the stalemate came about following Gichana’s refusal to surrender control of the assembly accounts.

In a letter dated February 15, addressed to CBK Governor Patrick Njoroge, Mutura said the actions of the former clerk had brought misery at the assembly.

On June 4, last year, an appellate court ordered the then assembly clerk Gichana to vacate office pending the determination of a lawsuit against him.

It went ahead and directed the deputy clerk in charge of administration Pauline Akuku to take over in an acting capacity.

Gichana also handed over vital documents to Akuku, a move seen as symbolising her taking over the office.

However, Gichana in a letter now accuses the assembly of creating an ‘imaginary ‘ crisis in which several individuals in the institution want to take advantage and control public funds.

“What we are witnessing is an artificial crisis created by the current officeholders where individuals want to control public resources for their own selfish interests,” the letter addressed to the CBK governor read.

Gichana, in his letter, said that following the court order directing him to step aside, the county assembly service board resolved to hand over to Akuku.

“It was not a one man decision but a resolve by members of the board. After the ruling, I consulted with the speaker who also serves as the chairman of the assembly’s service board on the way forward.

“The consultations were held on Sunday, June 6, last year, in the presence of the assembly legal counsels,” he said.

Gichana added that he handed over all the necessities and wrote to the Central Bank of Kenya, informing them of the court order and resolutions of the board.

Due to the paralysis, Mutura said suppliers had stopped providing services to the assembly on accounts of pending bills and non-payment.

Also, MCAs and assembly staff are yet to be paid their January salaries, since the same cannot be processed.

“The assembly has had essential services disconnected, such as internet services, critical to the carrying out of virtual plenary sittings and committees,” Mutura said.

However, in his letter, Gichana said the current officers who are signatories to the bank accounts have been interdicted and cannot perform their duties.

Apart from Gichana, the other three signatories to the bank accounts are Sammy Ndana (principal accountant), Paul Kimani (director, financial services) and Akuku.

“The three officers have been hounded out of office on malicious grounds despite being reinstated. The frustrations are so that they can be replaced by complaint officers. This is happening at a critical transition moment where public resources are at risk,” he said.

Gichana said that the current mandate holders can easily operate the accounts, something they have been doing for the last eight months.

“In view of the above, it is clear that there is no crisis at the Nairobi assembly as far as the running of CBK and indeed all other accounts is concerned,” he added.

In addition, the embattled clerk has asked CBK to only allow the three officers who are the current signatories to continue operating the accounts under strict control of the bank itself.

“The said officers are willing to continue serving despite being hounded out of office on frivolous accusations. This will go a long way in ensuring that public resources are protected during the transition period and that as the substantive clerk, I remain accountable,” Gichana said.

He also urged CBK to protect public resources, especially where there is a potential risk as demonstrated in current circumstances.

Gichana urged the assembly solve their issues in a lawful manner without dragging his name in the mess.

“I left the assembly in goodwill. They should clean their own mess without dragging me into it. Those are baseless accusations as they know what agenda they have and it has failed because of their own mistakes,” he added.

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