A city with no Members of County Assembly? A plan by the Nairobi Metropolitan Services to disband the Nairobi county government is in the offing and the greatest losers will be the governor Mike Sonko and elected MCAs as they will lose their seats once the city management is fully placed in the hands of NMS.
Last week, Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i hinted at the dissolution when he stated he was seeking the guidance of a top security organ chaired by Uhuru Kenyatta over the troubles at the Nairobi county assembly.
Matiang’i said the assembly, located at City Hall, has turned out to be a “battle zone” and is now a major security challenge.
The current tension at City Hall is because of an impeachment motion against embattled speaker Beatrice Elachi. Allegedly the speaker has now hired goons to storm the Nairobi CBD in a bid to scare away MCAs opposed to her leading to Matiang’i asking Inspector General of Police Hilary Mutyambai to step in.
According to the constitution, the President may suspend a county government–
(a) in an emergency arising out of internal conflict or war; or
(b) in any other exceptional circumstances. The constitution further stipulates that a county government shall not be suspended under clause (1) (b) unless an independent commission of inquiry has investigated allegations against the county government and the President is satisfied that the allegations are justified and the Senate has authorized the suspension.
Sonko might, however, be in the know recently rushing court to forestall it by demanding the cancellation of the deal he signed with the government ceding some key functions.
Uhuru is likely to form a commission of inquiry as per NSC advice citing security threats and mismanagement as the factors that informed his decision
