Nairobi MCAs to be sworn in after Sakaja gazettes County Assembly’s first sitting
Nairobi Members of the County Assembly will finally be sworn in on Thursday, September 29, 2022, this is after Governor Johnson Sakaja gazetted the first sitting of the third Assembly.
The gazettement comes a day after he held a meeting with Azimio la Umoja affiliated MCAs.
“I Sakaja Aurthur Johnson Governor of the County Government of Nairobi appoint that the first sitting of the third Assembly shall be held at the assembly Chambers on Thursday 29, September 2022 at 9:00 am,” the Gazette notice stated.
Questions had been raised on why Nairobi was yet to gazette the swearing-in, alongside other counties.
It was claimed that the delay was to influence the voting pattern for the speaker.
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This follows complaints by Nairobi senator Edwin Sifuna claiming Sakaja had intentionally delayed to gazette the first sitting.
Sifuna also said Azimio la Umoja is the Majority in the Assembly and that the delay, which he termed as political, would not change anything.
The ODM Secretary General hinted that the delay was a deliberate attempt by the Kenya Kwanza team to woo rival MCAs to their side.
The race for the Nairobi County Assembly Speaker seat was at the heart of the continued delay by the governor to call for the assembly’s first sitting.
The contest for the powerful position has narrowed down to a battle between the Raila Odinga-led Azimio la Umoja and President William Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza Alliance.
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The race pits Azimio’s Ken Ng’ondi against Kenya Kwanza’s Benson Mutura, who is the immediate former Speaker.
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has gazetted the names of nominated MCAs, marking the full constitution of assemblies.
The gazettement of nominated MCAs on September 9 set in motion a 30-day countdown for governors to call for inaugural sittings.
The County Assembly has 85 elected ward representatives and 39 nominated, bringing the total number to 124. However, an election in Utawala Ward is yet to be held.
Azimio – comprising ODM, Jubilee and Wiper – leads with 67 MCAs while Kenya Kwanza (UDA and CCK) has 53 MCAs. Three MCAs are independents. In terms of individual parties, UDA and ODM both have 35 MCAs Jubilee (six), Wiper (four) and CCK one.
In the nomination list, ODM and UDA both bagged 17 slots while Jubilee had three and Wiper two.
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