Puzzle of Nyamira with two county assemblies

Nyamira County is turning into a theatre of the absurd where two parallel assemblies are holding sessions, leaving area residents and other stakeholders, including the national government, confused.

Trouble started when Members of the County Assembly sought to impeach Nyamira Governor Amos Nyaribo last year, with 22 MCAs voting in support while 12 MCAs voted against, which fell short of the threshold of 23 MCAs needed for the impeachment to be considered valid.

The 22 MCAs who supported the impeachment accused Assembly Speaker Enock Okero of siding with Nyaribo and instituted proceedings to oust him, birthing two factions that are running county affairs.

Each of the groups has its Speaker and County Assembly Clerk, with one team conducting its affairs at the County Assembly headquarters while the other is holding its sessions in areas gazetted as Bunge Mashinani for the last five months, causing further confusion in the county.

The two groups, led by embattled Speaker Enock Okero and Ekerenyo MCA Thaddeus Nyabaro, appeared before Senators on Tuesday, who unsuccessfully tried to broker a truce between them.

“The Nyamira County Assembly is facing a political problem that requires a political solution, it is very important that the two groups sit down and agree to resolve their differences since this is the only way to go if at all they mean well for the county,” said Kisii Senator Richard Onyonka.

Nyamira Governor Amos Nyaribo warned that he was contemplating writing to President William Ruto to appoint a special committee to run Nyamira County affairs or for a possible dissolution of the county due to the long-standing differences between area leaders that are affecting service delivery.

Nyaribo, who had appeared before the Senate County Public Accounts Committee said that the county has a functional Bunge Mashinani led by Speaker Okero who he said was legally reinstated by the courts and another led by Speaker Nyabaro who he said was declared as holding office illegally.

The governor accused Nyamira Senator Okongo Omogeni and a group of MCAs for fueling the divisions despite his attempts to bring the warring factions together  .

Okero narrated how he was ejected from the chambers will presiding over assembly duties and later kicked out of office in October last year before he was later impeached in a process he said was unfair and had been challenged in court.

The embattled Speaker told the committee that his woes started when MCAs voted to impeach Governor Nyaribo.

He told Senators that impeachment proceedings against him ignored court orders and that it was wrong for his rival Nyabaro to claim he was the Speaker while serving as an MCA.

Okero said that he stopped carrying out his duties at the County Assembly precincts for fear of his safety.

Nyabaro insisted that due process had been followed in impeaching Okero as Speaker, arguing that he was illegally carrying out assembly duties away from the official precincts in Nyamira Town.

Nominated Senator Margaret Kamara said that it was embarrassing that a county assembly had two factions, terming it unfair to the people who elected them since they would lack essential services as their leaders engaged in unnecessary squabbles.

Omogeni wants the Senate Devolution Committee to inquire into the officially designated and gazetted location of the County Assembly of Nyamira and whether sittings that have been held outside that location were duly approved by the County Assembly and table evidence to that effect.

He also sought an inquiry into the status and legal standing of any business transacted by the two rival functions, including the adoption and passage of the supplementary budget and other legislative decisions that have been made during this standoff.

“The Senate Devolution Committee should make recommendations on initiating and leading our reconciliation and mediation process to return the Assembly to institutional normalcy, safeguard the rule of law, and protect the interest of the residents of Nyamira County,” said Omogeni.