By Antynet Ford
There was division at the Nairobi City County assembly over the lack of tabling of the report by the Sectorial Planning Committee and Housing for the vetting of Halaqe Waqo as the Chief Officer for Housing and Urban Renewal.
The division came after Ngei MCA Redson Onyango requested a statement from the committee for a detailed comprehensive report on the events following the vetting process and confirmation on whether the committee adopted the same report.
The Majority leader and Makongeni MCA Peter Imwatok said after the lapse of the twenty-one days on which the report needs to be tabled, the report becomes null and void.
“Our Standing orders provide that after the appearance of the said person for vetting, it becomes null and void.” Imwatok said.
Ngei MCA questioned why the report was never tabled before the house and had no reason if Waqo had been rejected or not.
“The name of Waqo was excluded when the list of nominees vetted was brought to the assembly. The Public Appointments Act 2017 clearly outlines the procedure for handling the approval or rejection of nominees.” Onyango stated.
“Clarity is needed on the status of the vetting process and the reasons for the exclusion of his name.” He added.
This comes three months after Waqo appeared on the same committee for vetting on April 15, 2024.
Previously, the Planning and Housing Committee chairman who is the MCA for Kitsuru Alvin Olando told Corporate Watch that they were waiting for directions from the house leadership as it is the one that halted the tabling of the report even though at that time he said the report was 60 per cent complete.
“We are waiting for the direction by the House leadership. As a committee, we did our part.” Olando said.
Waqo was nominated by Nairobi governor Johnson Sakaja on April 15 as the Chief Officer and he appeared before the Planning Committee for vetting on May 6, 2024.
Section 7(II) of the Public Appointments Act 2017 mandates that otherwise provided by the Law, a committee shall consider a nomination and submit its report to the County Assembly for debate and decision within twenty-one days from the first committee meeting