Sonko woes deepen as Speaker Lusaka orders probe at City Hall
Embattled Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko’s woes deepened after Senate resolved to investigate continuous squabbles that have threatened to bring operations at City Hall to its knees.
Senate Speaker Kenneth Lusaka on Monday directed a House committee to institute a probe to unearth among other issues allegations of financial embezzlement, leadership wrangles and claims of a dysfunctional executive owing to arbitrary suspension and sacking of County Executive Members and other top county staff.
This is after Senator Johnstone Sakaja petitioned the Senate to inquire what he termed as a ‘triple calamity’ holding back progress in the city.
In a well worded petition to the Senate dubbed ‘State of Nairobi City County”, Senator Sakaja stated that the city is suffering a triple calamity of a governor with no substantive deputy, a non-functional executive and an Assembly that is in shambles.
“Nairobi City County continues to sink further into an abyss of mismanagement and impunity. As anarchy and disorder reign supreme at the City Hall. Services to Nairobi City County citizens have practically been grounded,” Sakaja said in the petition.
He continued: “The citizens and the people of Nairobi City County are grappling with a myriad of inconveniences, frustrations and general lack of basic services and amenities.”
Instead of offering services, Sakaja alleged that Governor was treating Nairobians to all manner of shadowboxing and dramatization.
Consequently, Speaker Lusaka fixed the Committee on Devolution and Intergovernmental Relations to look at the issues raised in the petition and advice the House on way forward.
“This is a weighty matter that has been raised by the Senator for Nairobi. I know that it is not supposed to go to any Committee, but because of the weight of the matter, I will use my discretion under Standing Order 47(3), to direct it to the Committee on Devolution and Intergovernmental Relations. They should look at the issues and advice,” Lusaka ruled.
He added: “Members of the Committee will then come back and advise this House on the way forward, because the issues that have been raised could still be happening."
However, cognizant of the dirty tricks employed by Governor Mike Mbuvi Sonko, the Speaker has warned the committee not to be drawn to sideshows better known as “Vipindree” by city boss saying it risks putting the House in disrepute.
“Senators, we must be careful about how we approach some of the issues. Let us not come up with solutions that are not practical. You should remember that al Committees sit on behalf of the Senate,” Lusaka advised.
