MCAs allied to Mwangaza seek Senate help over House posts

Meru Governor Kawira Mwangaza. [File, Standard]

A section of Meru MCAs allied to Governor Kawira Mwangaza have sought the Senate's help citing unfair treatment by the county assembly leadership.

In a letter to Senate Speaker Amason Kingi, the 13 MCAs have pleaded for his intervention to have them get reinstated in Public Accounts, Budget and Appropriation and Implementation committees.

They said they were losing thousands of shillings in allowances after their ejection from leadership and membership of the three committees because they decided to support Mwangaza against the wishes of the majority.

While lauding the role played by the Senate Devolution and Inter-governmental Committee in resolving conflicts that had the potential to compromise devolution the 13 MCAs accused the Meru assembly leadership of denying them income and empowerment opportunities because of their political stand.

They said none of them were in the three committees, "to ensure that the 13 of us do not benefit from any domestic subsistence allowance that comes along with attending clusters."

"This goes against our legitimate expectations as MCAs. On average each of the 13 of us is losing between Sh150,000 to Sh200,000 every month," read part of the letter seen by The Standard.

The MCAs claimed that they have been denied allowances for the last three months to force them to denounce their support for the governor and engage in a witch-hunt to sabotage the county development agenda.

They said there was no evidence that parties that sponsored them to the assembly had demanded they be removed from the committees, hence their appeal for the Senate's intervention to have them reinstated.

The MCAs argued that the decision to expel them from the committees for their support for Mwangaza was an infringement on their freedom of expression, association and political rights as guaranteed in the Constitution.

"In the spirit of amicable resolution of disputes and to ensure we foster leadership and governance, especially at the devolved levels, and we are aware the Senate Standing Committee in charge of devolution is in a position to mediate over disputes of this nature, we write to invite the committee to intervene," they said in the letter copied to Senate Clerk and Chairperson of Committee on Devolution and Inter-governmental Relations.

Fridah Naitore, one of the MCAs said losing up to Sh200,000 greatly affects their philanthropic activities as they were cash-strapped and miss out on empowerment training held outside the county.

Kiagu MCA Simon Kiambi said they were mulling going to court.

Elijah Kimathi and John Muguna said their exclusion was a sign of political intolerance.