ODM MCAs give Elachi seven day ultimatum to call for a special sitting

Nairobi County Assembly ODM members have issued a seven-day ultimatum to Speaker Beatrice Elachi to convene a special sitting to discuss the leadership crisis at City Hall.

The party leadership in the assembly had written to the Speaker requesting a special sitting, but she directed that the letter did not specify sufficient grounds.

Led by Minority Leader David Mberia, the opposition ward legislators said they have given the Speaker until December 31 to convene a special sitting lest they “take matters into their own hands”.

Mberia, who is also Karen Ward MCA, said yesterday his party will be writing to the Speaker for a second time requesting for the sitting in light of a court ruling that barred Governor Mike Sonko from office.

“We must first discuss the issue at hand and if impeachment or any other solution is the way forward, then we will resort to it,” he added.

The opposition MCA said he was concerned that county operations had ground to a halt following the court order freezing City Hall’s accounts, which means that workers’ salaries had not been paid. He warned that more troubles lay ahead for city residents if the issue was not resolved.

This comes even as Minority Whip Peter Imwatok said he would use the special sitting to table a censure motion against Sonko, claiming he has collected 82 signatures, enough to support his bid to oust the governor.

Elachi welcomed the calls for a special sitting, saying she would call for one if the grounds provided were genuine.

“I’m guided by the law that clearly says to gazette a special sitting you have to be very specific and gazette what to discuss,” she said.