He accused Elachi of abuse of office where she threatened, intimidated and harassed officers of the County Assembly exercising their duties as assigned by the Board/FILE
NAIROBI, Kenya, Jun 19 – An impeachment motion against Nairobi County Assembly Speaker Beatrice Elachi is expected to be tabled on Tuesday afternoon at Charter Hall.
According to the motion, presented by Waithaka Ward MCA Kiragu Karanja, the grounds for impeachment include the alleged conflict of interest after she violated chapter Six of the Constitution, specifically Article 73 on Responsibilities of leadership which requires objectivity and impartiality in decision making, and in ensuring that decisions are not influenced by nepotism or favoritism, and it cited the purchase of the Speaker’s House.
“Violation of Section 42 and 43 of the Public Procurement and Disposal Act, 2005 by aggressively and contrary to the law interfering with procurement processes with a view to have tenders awarded to parties close to her, for instance in the purchase of the residence of the holder of the Office of Speaker, where she actively interfered,” he said.
He stated that she threatened, bullied and intimidated staff to have a party close to her win the award for the purchase of the said residence despite that party having clearly failed the mandatory criteria for award of the tender, and having marked up the price by over Sh30 million above what the market survey Report recommended.
He further pointed out that she undermined the authority of the County Assembly Service Board through her actions and omissions by purporting to unilaterally undertake the functions of the Board and inviting investigators to probe the conduct of officers of the County Assembly and the Board’s prior decisions.
“Violation of Section 12 of the County Governments Act, 2012 and Section 12 of the County Assembly Services Act, 2017 on Powers of the Board as a body corporate by inviting investigators to probe alleged irregularities in Procurement matters falling squarely under the purview of the Board, which matters she should have, by the Board’s own regulations and practice, tendered before the Board for consideration before inviting third parties,” he stated.
He accused Elachi of abuse of office where she threatened, intimidated and harassed officers of the County Assembly exercising their duties as assigned by the Board, undermining the office of the Clerk of the County Assembly through various correspondences to Constitutional Commissions such as the Commission on Revenue Allocation, Salaries and Remuneration Commission and the Auditor General and seeking to control all administrative affairs relating to the intergovernmental function of those offices with the County Assembly contrary to law.
The motion further states that she failed to show leadership after unilaterally cancelling the results of a legitimate vote and ordering a fresh election, clearly abusing her office.
“Violation of Article 75(1)(c) of the Constitution on leadership and integrity through tribalism and nepotism by continually preferring members of a certain community for special favors in the exercise of the powers of her office, and extending the same to Staff.”
It gained momentum after Kiragu was able to collect 69 signatures above the required 43 minimum required for the motion to be tabled.
“The conduct of the Hon. Beatrice K. Elachi through her actions and omissions has caused the Assembly great embarrassment and brought the Office of the Speaker into disrepute contrary to the gamut of laws on conduct of State officers of her calibre, this Assembly resolves to sanction and remove the Hon. Beatrice Elachi as holder of the office of the Speaker of the County Assembly of Nairobi City, pursuant to Section 11 of the County Governments Act,” he stated through his motion.
He said that she also repeatedly commenced Assembly proceedings without the requisite Quorum.
The Speaker also allegedly interfered with procurement processes with a view to having tenders awarded to parties close to her.
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