Chaos erupted on Wednesday afternoon at Nairobi City hall after MCAs stormed County Speaker Beatrice Elachi’s office trying to eject her.
The scuffle started when the embattled speaker was escorted back to resume her official duties in the morning after being away for 13 months.
Elachi, who promised to stand her ground, was brought back to the assembly by a number of city MCAs from the minority side.
“I have been the speaker all along and I have come back to bring sanity in the assembly,” she affirmed.
After taking back the position in her office, the ODM MCAs are said to have closed all the gates barring access into and out of the assembly.
However, things turned soar after MCAs from the majority side, led by the Majority Leader Abdi Hassan, stormed the premises trying to eject Elachi for the second time.
Chaos at City Hall as MCAs allied to Majority Leader Abdi Guyo attempt to eject Nairobi County Assembly Speaker #BeatriceElachi from office. pic.twitter.com/VdvQtgggQU
— Ali 'Mwamvita' Manzu (@Ali_Manzu) October 9, 2019
The MCAs who gained entry into her office managed to vandalized many properties inside Elachi’s office as the embattled speaker took refuge in a nearby office.
According to one of the Jubilee MCAs, their ODM counterparts had planned for Elachi’s return without involving the House leadership.
Homa Bay MP Gladys Wanga stands in solidarity with Beatrice Elachi, attacks Oscar Sudi.#KTNNewsCentre pic.twitter.com/8q4iok7SlJ
— KTN News Alerts (@KTNNewsKE) October 9, 2019
Elachi, who was in the company of other minority leaders, emerged later and insisted she was not going to back off despite the scuffles.
On her part, Elachi blamed Mr. Abdi Hassan, claiming that incase anything happens to her, her family should hold the majority leader responsible for everything.
“If I die today, my family must hold majority leader responsible,” said Elachi
"If I die today, my family must hold majority leader responsible" -Beatrice Elachi, Nairobi County Speaker pic.twitter.com/jKQLzlUMn7
— Citizen TV Kenya (@citizentvkenya) October 9, 2019
She was last seen in the office over a year ago when the MCAs attempted to forcefully remove her from her seat in 2018.
In September 2018, members of the assembly overwhelmingly voted to kick out the speaker. A motion tabled by Waithaka MCA Anthony Kiragu listed various violations of the Constitution, Leadership and Integrity Act 2012, as well as the Powers and Privileges Act, 2017, as the reasons for the speaker’s ouster.
The alleged violations included conflict of interest, undermining the authority of the county assembly service board, abuse of office, gross misconduct as well as failure to show leadership.
Embattled Nairobi County Assembly Speaker Beatrice Elachi has been brought back to the assembly by a number of city MCAs from the minority side. https://t.co/lTSkqLMaB6 pic.twitter.com/0AVnw4BoVo
— The Star, Kenya (@TheStarKenya) October 9, 2019
The members accused Elachi of interference by threatening and bullying staff to have a party close to her win the award for the purchase of the residence of the speaker.
They also accused the speaker of undermining the authority of the county assembly service board by inviting investigators to probe alleged irregularities in procurement matters, which was a function of the board and not an individual decision