Chaos and name calling Thursday characterized a Garissa County Assembly session as two factions fought over suspension of four members from the chambers.
A female member who recently underwent caesarian section as she gave birth had to be hospitalized after she was hit during the melee as Sergeant at Arms struggled to get rid of some members as ordered by Speaker Ahmed Ibrahim Abass.
Abass had ordered MCAS Fatuma Sanweyn (nominated), Hussein Dagane (nominated), Mohamud Omar (Township) and Suleiman Mohamed (Jarajara) to be thrown out for three months for gross misconduct in the House sparking angry protests from their allies.
The two factions emerged recently after National Assembly Majority Leader who is also Garissa Township Member of Parliament Aden Duale allegedly accused the Speaker of leading MCAs to meet ODM leader Raila Odinga at his Nairobi office.
The duo has been embroiled in counter accusations, sometimes disrupting house business. Similar chaos erupted last week as ward members engaged in fist fights following the ouster of two members from committee leadership.
Dekaharja Ward MCA Yusuf Omar and nominated MCA Maryan Hassan were expelled from Agriculture and Roads committees that they chaired respectively.
There was heavy police presence with strict orders to keep all including journalists out of the county assembly compound.
Nominated MCA Fatuma Sanweyn termed the suspension illegal accusing the speaker of bias. “The suspension will depend on what is captured by the Hansard. The procedure used by the speaker is illegal,” she told KNA.
On his part, the Speaker defended his move to suspend the members from the chambers noting that the assembly is a house of rules and procedures.
“They defied order to have other members transact their business in the house with decorum. They will not be allowed within the precinct of the assembly for the next three months. What they did is a gross misconduct and according to standing orders, they deserve the punishment,” he added.
Abass said ouster of some members from committee leadership was fronted by the majority party (Jubilee) and he only read the resolutions in the house as required.
By Jacob Songok
