A myriad of claims by Nairobi ward reps have led to the downfall of Speaker Beatrice Elachi, who was impeached on Thursday.
SH550,000
But why do the city county lawmakers want her out? Top on the legislators’ long list of claims is abuse of office, where they allege the speaker inappropriately used public funds on dubious travel to Dallas, Texas, in the US.
While Ms Elachi said she in the US for a Diaspora women network conference, MCAs claim she was traveling for a plastic and knee surgery.
The reps said their surgery claim was backed by an insurance claim from CIC Insurance totalling Sh1 million, whose payment was similarly “procured through deceit and intimidation”.
SH1.5M
“Renowned media personalities such Mr Larry Madowo and Mr Boniface Mwangi even highlighted in their social media platforms when they received similar invitation letters from the Nigerian scammers to pay to receive the honorary doctorate,” the motion reads in part.
Ms Elachi, the MCAs say, also breached Article 201(d) of the Constitution on prudent and responsible use of public resources, and Section 162 of the Public Finance Management Act, 2012, by inappropriately buying a First Class ticket to Texas, at Sh1,500,000 on May 23.
This, the lawmakers say, is “in contravention of all practice and relevant regulations on travel by State officers, which demands that all State officers, even at her level, travel Business Class, which was originally valued at Kshs900,000, but whose highly irregular upgrade to First Class she procured through intimidation, leading to loss of public monies.”
SH25M
In addition, she is accused of violating the County Assembly Powers and Privileges Act, 2017 by repeatedly inviting the Ethics and Integrity Commission (EACC) and other investigatory agencies to investigate the conduct of Members of the Select Committee on Labour and Social Welfare.
Under conflict of interest, she is accused of interfering with procurement processes with a view to having tenders awarded to parties close to her or their proxies.
The MCAs allege she actively interfered in the purchase of a house for the speaker “by threatening, bullying and intimidating staff to have a party close to her win the award despite that party having clearly failed the mandatory criteria for award of the tender”.
The proxies are accused of creating a mark-up of Sh25 million above what the market survey report recommended, having quoted Sh125 million when the recommended price was Sh100 million.
The embattled speaker, who is only a year into her position, was accused of undermining the authority of the County Assembly Board by unilaterally undertaking the functions of the board.
APPPOINTMENTS
She is alleged to have usurped the powers of the board by purporting to “secretly and unilaterally” appoint officers of the board as accounting officers through defining mandates at the Central Bank of Kenya, IFMIS and Internet Banking without consultations.
TRIBALISM
Also, she is accused of violating the leadership and integrity law by promoting tribalism and nepotism. The speaker is said to have “continually” given members from a certain community special favours and repeatedly warning staff from certain tribes to tore the line or face the consequences.