Nyandarua MCAs defy UDA’s speaker choice for county
Nyandarua MCAs went against the stand of the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party and voted for Steve Wachira Waiganjo to be Speaker of the County Assembly on Friday.
Waiganjo who is a brother of former Oljororok Mp, JM Waiganjo garnered 27 votes against the UDA favoured George Gaita who got 14.
The MCAs ignored a letter by UDA secretary general Veronica Maina telling them that the Party had taken a stand to support Gaita.
“Kindly note that Mr George Gaita Maina is the duly nominated member from our Party to be the Speaker of Nyandarua County Assembly.
“This the Party position and must be upheld,” the UDA Secretary-General warned in the letter dated September 22, this year.
UDA is the majority party in the Nyandarua assembly.
PHOTO/David Macharia
There was a brief barrage of points of order as MCAs supporting the Party position claimed that Waiganjo had not attained the two-thirds threshold.
But the acting clerk, Mukiri Muchiri ruled that there is a precedent that set 27 votes as the two-thirds thresh hold for the Nyandarua County Assembly.
The outcome of the Speaker’s seat and that of the deputy speaker where Zachary Njeru who is Nyakio Ward MCA was defending the deputy speaker’s seat was beaten by newcomer Samuel Chege Gathirimu of Geta Ward, elated the outgoing speaker Ndegwa Wahome.
“Now I can go and have a round of golf (at the Nyahururu Golf Club) because I am now convinced the County (Nyandarua) is in good hands,” Wahome said as he boarded his vehicle after handing over instruments of power to his successor.
Njeru had led in the first round of voting by getting 18 votes against Gathirimu’s 15 and Kipipiri Ward’s Paul Ngeche Wambaire who got eight votes.
Since no candidate for the deputy speaker’s seat garnered two third of the votes cast in the first round as per the Standard Orders, the voting went to a second round for the top two where the winner was decided by a simple majority. Gathirimu won by garnering 24 votes against Njeru’s 17.
The voting was preceded by the swearing of the 41 MCAs – 25 elected and 16 nominated, by the acting clerk of the assembly Mukiri Muchiri at the Assemble chambers in Ol Kalou town.
