Guyo accuses Sonko of inciting chaos as ward reps trade blame

Governor Mike Sonko seems unable to disentangle himself from the ongoing wrangles at the county assembly, even as rival factions trade blame over the row.

This comes in the wake of the ouster of majority leader Abdi Guyo, who has accused the governor of instigating chaos at the assembly.

He claimed that Mr Sonko orchestrated chaos to curtail the ability of MCAs to effectively carry out their oversight role and to get back at him (Guyo) after the two erstwhile allies fell out.

“The problem in Nairobi is Governor Sonko. The chaos at the assembly is well choreographed so that we do not oversight the executive but concentrate on fighting ourselves. Why didn’t we have chaos in the previous regime, save for an attempt to impeach then governor Evans Kidero?” posed Mr Guyo.

The revelations emerged during a Senate Committee on Devolution and Intergovernmental Relations hearing yesterday. Senators have summoned the assembly leadership over the ongoing wrangles. Mr Guyo said the governor had tried on several occasions to see that he is removed as the majority leader, and at last succeeded by using Jubilee Party secretary general Raphael Tuju to irregularly oust him from his position.

“Problems started when I questioned the suspension of staff after the Precious Talents School tragedy. He then asked why I addressed such things in the media. From then on he tried all tactics to remove me from the position,” he said.

The Spring Valley/Matopeni ward rep alleged that massive “looting” and cases of financial impropriety were going on at the county government but MCAs fear calling out Mr Sonko’s administration because they “fear being attacked by goons in the county’s payroll”.

However, the claims by Mr Guyo were dismissed by Nairobi West MCA Maurice Gari, who blamed the chaos on poor leadership by previous leaders at the assembly whom, he said, members have finally managed to remove from office.

This comes after the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) also removed their minority leader Elias Otieno from his position, accusing him of having no respect for women leaders, supporting the ANC candidate in the recent Kibra by-election and opposing Mr Gari’s nomination to the assembly’s service board.a