Kisumu Assembly sittings suspended indefinitely

Kisumu, Kenya: Kisumu County Assembly sittings have been suspended indefinitely following internal wrangles among members.

Tuesday, chaos erupted in the assembly following a debate to discuss the conduct of the assembly service board.

It emerged there were two rival camps competing for the control of the House, one allied to the assembly leader of majority Samuel Ong'ow and another to the speaker Anne Adul.

Fearing that the row could get uglier, the speaker took the mace to the area central police station to protect the property.

Members of the speaker's panel explained that she adjourned the House indefinitely to allow members to resolve their differences.

But more than 35 MCAs Wednesday held an informal session in the assembly and complained that the speaker did not communicate the adjournment of the House to members.

The speaker, her deputy and members of the speaker's panel did not attend the session held in the morning.

All the clerks and the MCAs allied to the speaker also missed the sittings.

Tension remained high as the split among the MCAs that word got to the local residents who threatened to storm and damage the assembly premises.

It forced the police to throw teargas canisters to disperse the crowd.

But the MCAs who had gathered at the assembly proceeded with their deliberations as more than 10 police officers were deployed to man the premises.

They were however baffled by the absence of the mace, forcing them to revert to the committee of the whole house.

The MCAs accused the speaker of incompetence and corruption and resolved to bring a censure motion against her.

They further argued that the speaker did not follow the Standing Orders in her decision to suspend the assembly sittings.

Ong'ow accused the speaker of hatching a plot to scuttle the county's development agenda.

“All the assembly staff reported to work as usual because the adjournment was not even captured in the Hansard,” he said.

They accused the office of the speaker of sleeping on some key reports and motions that touch on integrity of the county assembly.