Nairobi MCAs say they are now broke and are accusing Governor Johnson Sakaja of withholding their allowances amounting to Sh282 million owed to the assembly.
The MCAs accused the executive’s finance department of withholding the funds and deliberately obstructing their oversight responsibilities.
Majority leader Peter Imwatok said many members have fallen into financial anguish, with some forced to borrow money due to unpaid arrears.
“The health of the ward reps is at stake because the executive has failed to pay for their insurance, and no explanation has been given,” Imwatok said in the House.
The MCAs in their breakdown say unpaid allowances now stand at Sh58.9, Sh20.4 million in office imprest, and Sh9.6 million in imprest for county staff.
Other outstanding payments include Sh38.8 million for the County Assemblies Sports Association (CASA), Sh28.2 million for Laptrust, Sh65.9 million for October salaries, Sh11.8 million for ward staff salaries, Sh14.4 million for hotel expenses, Sh4.5 million for air tickets, Sh7.8 million for legal services, and Sh4.6 million for insurance.
Some members claim that there were reports that the executive had received Sh3.3 billion from the exchequer in October alone.
Nairobi West MCA Rex Omolleh painted a bleak picture, stating that some ward reps are unable to afford fuel for their vehicles.
“We’ve been using our own money for committee sittings and report writing. Some members are even borrowing money just to meet their transport expenses,” he said.
County Assembly Speaker Kennedy Ng’ondi informed the House that his office has since written to the Executive over the matter.
“I’m requesting the Majority Leader to continue pursuing this issue. My office and the office of the Clerk have already written to the executive, and that’s as far as we can go,” he said.
