This archive report was first published on 16 October 2019.
On October 16, 2019, a week of chaos and drama at the Nairobi County Assembly finally came to an end, with calm returning to the precincts.
Speaker Beatrice Elachi's return to office on Wednesday last week had sparked a week of intense drama, but normal business seems to be slowly picking up at the assembly.
A spot check by our team observed a section of ward representatives and members of staff going about their business, with no police officers in sight.
Elachi was meeting a delegation in her office, one of the scenes of the fiercest battles between rival MCAs last week.
However, the offices of the Majority and Minority Leaders, both Whips as well as that of the clerk and tables and journals office remained closed.
The Majority Leader's office seemed to have not been attended to, with broken, unarranged furniture and pieces of wood still on the floor.
The entrance to the chambers was also closed, with the gazette notice issued out by Elachi, suspending regular sittings last week, placed on the door.
County Assembly Clerk Jacob Ngwele has faulted the indefinite adjournment and subsequent gazettement of the resumption date of the assembly, saying the processes lack legal backing.
“Every gazette notice is anchored on specific provision of the law. However, this was not anchored on any law. It was based on the October 8 sitting which had no Hansard, minutes or clerks,” said Mr Ngwele.
Elachi dismissed Ngwele's claims, saying she was guided by the law in adjourning the plenary sittings.
