Mandera MCAs fight over executive members’ list
Mandera MCAs during a fracas in the county assembly chamber on November 9, 2017. They engaged in a fist fight as Jubilee MCAs opposed the tabling of a report by the Committee on Appointments that recommended the rejection of all the governor's nominees to the executive. PHOTO | MANASE OTSIALO | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- Trouble begun a few minutes to the 2:30pm session when members in the assembly hall begun blowing whistles.
- MCAs allied to Jubilee Party oppose report recommending rejection of list.
- The Speaker was forced to adjourn the sitting to 8pm amid fist fighting in the assembly.
Members of the Mandera County Assembly have engaged in a fist fight over the tabling of a report by the Committee on Appointments.
The committee, chaired by Speaker Mohamed Khalif was set to table a report Thursday rejecting all the ten nominees forwarded to the assembly by Mandera Governor Ali Roba for vetting and approval.
Trouble begun a few minutes to the 2:30pm session when members in the assembly hall begun blowing whistles.
MCAs allied to the Jubilee Party started whistling, thus delaying the Speaker’s entry into the assembly.
After about an hour of blowing of whistles, the speaker entered the hall as the sergeant-at-arms and his team held tightly to the mace.
Attempts by the Speaker to begin the day’s session was marred with louder blowing of whistles.
ADJOURN
Mr Khalif, of the Economic Freedom Party (EFP), was forced to adjourn the sitting to 8pm amid fist fighting in the assembly.
Jubilee members, who are the minority in the assembly, accused EFP of rejecting all the ten nominees forwarded to the assembly by Governor Roba.
“We are aware of the plan to adopt the report rejecting the CEC nominees by the EFP members using the tyranny of numbers and we shall not accept that,” lamented Mr Jimale Hassan, the leader of minority.
While nominating the CECs, Governor Roba retained five members who served in his first term in office.
Mr Roba dropped some other five members and brought in new faces.
ANTICS
Nominated MCA, Issack Dahir, known for his antics, attempted to kick out members opposing the motion but his efforts were fruitless.
In June 2016, Mr Dahir, then Rhamu Ward MCA, grabbed the mace and dropped it in pit latrine, halting a supplementary budget debate.
“Whether EFP use force or not we shall not accept [the rejection] of all the CECs as recommended by this report,” said Mr Hassan.
Majority Leader Abdi Hassan defended the committee’s recommendation stating that all the nominees were dropped on integrity issues.
“All these nominees have integrity issues and those retained by the governor have pending bills which cannot be explained how they came up and how they will be settled,” he said.
