Why there’s no end in sight for feuding Machakos Assembly
Machakos Speaker Anne Kiusya and Governor Wavinya Ndeti.
The wrangling within the Machakos County leadership has intensified following the Speaker Anne Kiusya’s bid to block the reinstatement of nine suspended Members of the County Assembly (MCAs).
On Wednesday, Speaker Kiusya, represented by her lawyer Danstan Omari, filed a case with the High Court challenging the ruling that had temporarily reinstated the ward representatives, on the grounds that the court had been misled.
Last week, she expelled the MCAs for 28 sittings on the grounds of violating the County Assemblies Act, Standing Orders and gross misconduct.
The suspended MCAs, led by Deputy Speaker Stephen Nzue and Majority Leader Nicholas Nzioka, took legal action and obtained interim orders allowing them to return to work.
However, the Speaker’s lawyer argued under a certificate of urgency that the initial court decision was rushed and unfair, and that it was issued without hearing the Speaker’s side.
Furthermore, the lawyer pointed out that the legislators had failed to disclose crucial information and pleaded with the court to revoke the temporary orders and uphold the Speaker’s decision to remove them.
Lawyer Omari stated that the Speaker’s ruling was in line with legal provisions, other county assembly rulings and international best practices and noted that the legislators were meant to remain suspended until after June 30, when the budgetary processes and key county bills had been passed.
“The Speaker had made a ruling based on the provisions of the Standing Orders, precedents from other county assemblies, precedents from the national senate, precedents from global parliaments and that is the reason the Speaker had to suspend the involved individuals for 28 days,” stated Omari.
“The 28 days, the wisdom is that they will lapse after June 30, when the Machakos population of 2 million will have gotten their budget and all bills that were in sessional paper completed. That was never disclosed to the learned judge.”
The legal counsel stated that the Speaker had provided solid legal arguments, including Hansard recordings and material evidence, ahead of the court’s ruling, which will provide directions on the way forward.
The seven ward representatives suspended by the Speaker alongside the Deputy Speaker and the Majority Leader include MCAs Catherine Kyee, Phoebe Koki, Anne Nthenya, Felix Mutunga, Charles Mbuva, Raphael Nzau and former minority leader Judas Mbili.
Escalation
The protracted infighting in the county assembly is now threatening to drag in the executive, with a section of legislators led by Mahatani/Kinanie MCA, Francis Kavyu, faulting Machakos County Governor, Wavinya Ndeti, over her recent remarks.
The MCA claimed the county boss made the remarks during a church event, implying she could forcibly remove the Speaker from office by rallying residents in blatant disregard of the separation of powers doctrine.
“We want to tell the governor the constitution is very clear on the doctrine of separation of powers. The Assembly is not an arm or an executive wing; it is an independent body that has autonomy and what we are saying is that the assembly must be respected,” stated MCA Kavyu.
The legislator defended the Speaker’s decision to kick out the nine MCAs last week, accusing Governor Ndeti of being behind the county assembly's incessant woes.
“Instead of inciting the members of the public because we saw it happen last week and she confirmed that all along she has been the person behind the chaos, and anarchy that has been witnessed in Machakos and because we are law-abiding, we are going to abide by the law but she must be warned to keep off the affairs of the county assembly and ensure she does not interfere with the welfare and the role of the county assembly.”
Regarding attempts to impeach the Speaker, the attorney pointed out that Ms Kiusya was granted court orders blocking her ouster, reiterating that there is a legal process for the removal of a speaker.
“We have put it very clearly to the Judge that the Speaker is not worried about impeachment, she has numbers, she controls the majority of the MCAs and she has a court order stopping any form of impeachment,” stated Omari.
“We have information that illegal extrajudicial utterances have been put in place to eject our client from her lawful office where she is discharging her lawful mandate as the speaker of the county assembly of Machakos.”
“As the defense team, we shall resist. This is a country governed by the constitution of the Republic of Kenya, governed by the standing orders of Machakos County Assembly, governed by the precedents set by other parliaments in the Commonwealth all over the world.