The return of Nairobi County Assembly Speaker Beatrice Elachi to her office Wednesday was not a snap decision but the culmination of a well-planned plot that has been in the works for a while.
There was a series of behind-the-scenes meetings in Nairobi where only select ward reps from Jubilee and ODM were involved.
FRIEND-TURNED-FOE
The mother of all the meetings happened on Sunday last week where the final touches on how Ms Elachi would resume office over a year since her chaotic ouster were agreed upon.
A source privy to the happenings told the Nation that the meeting was organised with the sole aim of finding ways to clip the powers of Majority Leader Abdi Guyo and his close associates following a recent falling-out between him and Governor Mike Sonko.
“There was a meeting attended by a number of MCAs. It was agreed that the Speaker be accorded support on her return,” said the source. Once bosom friends, Governor Sonko and Mr Guyo are now not seeing eye to eye, with the former said to be orchestrating ways to get back at his friend-turned-foe.
The source claimed Mr Sonko feels that the majority leader might have given him away to the anti-graft agency, alleging that there is a video showing Mr Guyo meeting with a senior officer from the agency.
To show how deep the machinations at play are, a letter from Mr Sonko dated October 4 has emerged in which he calls for the removal of Mr Guyo and suggests that he be replaced by Maringo Hamza MCA Mark Ndung’u, who was the leader of MCAs supporting the return of Ms Elachi.
FULL-PAGE AD
In the letter, the governor accused Mr Guyo of undermining his administration, making it difficult for the county to implement Jubilee’s manifesto. “Consequently, I am forwarding to you the name of Mark Ndung’u as the new majority leader designate. Kindly effect appropriately,” he said in the letter addressed to Ms Elachi and copied to Jubilee Secretary-General Raphael Tuju.
Signs of a crack in the relationship between the two started to show two weeks ago, when the governor ran a full-page advert castigating Mr Guyo and Minority Whip Peter Imwatok over statements attributed to them in a story published by a newspaper. This was after the suspension of Finance Executive Charles Kerich and his Health counterpart Mohamed Dagane over the Precious Talent School tragedy.
100 GOONS
The cracks widened last week when Mr Guyo led MCAs in criticising the governor over the frequent suspensions and sacking of staff, accusing him of arrogating the roles of the County Public Service Board. But the governor hit back at the Matopeni MCA, accusing him of interfering with his work.
On Wednesday, about 100 goons who invaded the assembly corridors did not hide their allegiance as they shouted at Mr Guyo, accusing him of backstabbing the governor.
“Guyo heshimu governor (respect the governor). You will know who this Nairobi belongs to,” they shouted.
But Ms Elachi rejected claims that the governor was involved in her return, saying the constant abuse she has been receiving from Mr Guyo provoked her to come back as she felt she could not let things continue that way.
Credit: Source link