When war erupted at City Hall over Speaker Beatrice Elachi Ouster, nominated MCA Mary Njambi was on the forefront. Do you remember the “unaekea MCA wako mafirifiri kwa macho…..eeeh…si hii ni Krimino..” chronicles? Among the people who were fighting to throw Elachi out, four MCAs stole the limelight.
The day of reckoning has come and Mary Njambi, Laura Mwende, Nancy Muthami and Mary Arivitsa have been suspended for their antics that shamed the county on September 10 last year.
The Powers and Privileges Committee recommended punitive action against them in a report that was passed by the assembly on Wednesday.
Njambi was nicknamed ‘Mafirifiri’ (pepper) because she complained bitterly about pepper spray which Elachi allegedly used on MCAs to wade them off.
She denied being under the influence of alcohol when she stormed Elachi’s office to eject her. ‘I’m a devoted Christian and a believer in Christ,” Njambi said.
“I had earlier visited a friend who was taking alcohol. That is why I’m seen in a photograph at a table that had alcohol.”
Thereafter, she went to see the Speaker but while entering the office she was sprayed with pepper.
She admitted leading members to the office but denied being part of the fracas that ensued.
Njambi said no commotion would have happened if security guards had not blocked MCAs from entering the Speaker’s office.
Njambi, Mwende and Muthami have been suspended for 10 days. Arivitsa was sent home for 21 days for unethical conduct on August 25 last year.
The committee’s chairman Naftali Mathenge said the MCAs’ conduct was likely to reflect adversely on the dignity and integrity of the county assembly.
On September 25, last year when MCAs elected Chege Mwaura as the acting Speaker, Arivitsa is accused of misconduct.
She disrupted the assembly’s proceedings by shouting and rolling on the floor.
Arivista defended herself and said she was furious because her name had been put forward as a replacement for Elachi yet she was not consulted.
“Everyone knows I have been pro-Elachi and I felt violated when the Minority Chief Whip Peter Imwatok mentioned my name,” Aritvsa said.
Muthami admitted she hit the Speaker’s door and shouted because she thought Elachi’s life was in danger as “goons were inside her the office”.
Mwende said she was irritated and got angry because Elachi could use pepper spray on MCAs,
Aritvsa and Mwende apologised to the assembly and were escorted out of the chambers by the sergeant-at-arms.