Members of the Meru County Assembly (MCAS) rejected Governor Kawira Mwangaza’s address in the House on Wednesday, causing chaos.
Governor Kawira was denied entry into the premises amid chants of “Hatutaki” from a few members.
The MCAs claimed that the governor has been ungracious to requests for discussions with them over the last two weeks, citing arrogance as a reason for the rejection.
They also accused Governor Kawira and her officers of humiliating them by refusing to recognize them as elected leaders.
“As an assembly consisting of 69 members we have today resolved that we are not going to listen to the Governor’s address reason being that we have sought audience with the governor for the last two weeks seeking to have a sitting with her so that we can discuss on the way forward on how we are going to work for the people of Meru which has been to no avail,” said an MCA addressing the media on Tuesday.
“The governor and her officers are out there to demean the MCAs but they have been elected therefore we need to have respect between the office of the governor and members of the County Assembly.”
As a result, they vowed not to respond to the Governor’s summons until their demands were met.
They claim that without a healthy working relationship, all County developments will be hampered, making County electorate demands impossible to meet.
“We therefore feel if the governor has no time to listen to our demands and needs and the needs of our electorates, we are also not ready to give her audience,” he added.
“For us to go forward we need to work a working relationship. The governor needs to understand that the country government comprises of two arms of government, the legislature and executive, and one cannot function without the other one. We promise that we are ready to support her but this can’t happen but this cannot happen without having a sitting.”
On her part, Kawira noted that when she arrived at the assembly, she met with a group of MCAs who barricaded the entrance.
” I found that they had parked a Probox to block the entrance, so I decided to use the back entrance which was also locked forcing me to access the premises on foot
“We had been tipped off that they had armed themselves with clubs, stones, and all forms of weapons” Mwangaza stated.
Attempts to address them in the local dialect proved futile and police officers were forced to lob teargas canisters to disperse the crowd. She later made her way into the chambers shielded by her security and the sergeant of arms.
Inside the house, the ward representatives who were gathered in groups took off leaving the county chief alone. Mwangaza accused the MCAs of demanding a bribe to pass the nominees to her cabinet.
“The issue of blackmailing the governor asking me to give you Ksh5 million so that you approve the nominees, I will not accept. I will not part with any money for you to do your job,” the governor stated.
She further refuted claims that she had refused to engage the county leadership, noting that she had visited 20 wards and was accompanied by respective MCAs on each tour.
