Nairobi UDA MCAs defend Sakaja, accuse Senate of biasness
By Antynet Ford
A section of Nairobi’s United Democratic Alliance (UDA) MCAs have defended Sakaja for not attending the Senate summons.
The legislatures accused the senate of being biased in their summons adding that they only summon Sakaja amongst all the 47 counties.
According to the Assembly Minority Chief Whip Mark Mugambi, Sakaja has attended more than 11 summons in the current financial year and it is biased that missing one sitting because he is out of the country, the senate has according to him sensationalized it.
“In the current financial year alone, Sakaja has been to the senate more than eleven times. They told the public that he was out of the country at the start of the week and this is on official duties, how did they expect him to appear before them?” Mugambi asked.
He asked the senate committees to stop sensationalizing the appearance of the city governor before them.
The Senate Committee on Energy yesterday the Senate Energy Committee requested the inspector general of the police (IG), Japhet Koome, to arrest and present Governor Sakaja before it on April 25, 2024.
The committee also fined Sakaja Sh500,000 for failing to honor the committee’s summons.
The senate committee wanted the city boss to shed more light on investigations conducted into the Miradi gas explosion, which occurred in the Embakasi area of Nairobi earlier this year, killing 12 residents and injuring over 200 others.
Read also:- Sakaja ‘rubs shoulders’ with Sifuna after snubbing Senate committee
Last week, the Senate Public Accounts Committee, chaired by Homa Bay Senator Moses Kajwang’, also ordered Governor Sakaja to appear before it within 14 days to address audit queries after he skipped an earlier sitting.
Contrary to the senators, the UDA legislators argued that Sakaja has appeared before the Senate whenever he is available.
Further, the MCAs have claimed that a certain quarter, which they deviated from mentioning, isn’t happy with Sakaja’s progress as governor, especially his efforts to resolve years of mismanagement.
They have warned premature political hopefuls against derailing Sakaja from fulfilling his manifesto.
The legislators pledged support for his programs and emphasized that they understood the complexities he was facing in ensuring they were successful.
Further on the Auditor General report, the MCAs have also called on the Senate to give the governor ample time to implement his projects.
They requested to be allowed to read the auditor’s general report for the financial year 2022/2023 which accused the Nairobi City County Government of authorizing unclear expenditures adding that part of the period in that Financial year, Sakaja was not in office yet.
Sakaja was in the spotlight after Auditor General Nancy Gathungu revealed financial discrepancies amounting to over Sh20 billion.
In a report presented to the Senate, Gathungu highlighted a concerning pattern of irregularities and potential mismanagement within the City Hall administration
The report revealed a flawed payroll system, where some employees were found sharing bank accounts, leading to duplicated salary and allowance payments.
