A Baringo Member of County Assembly (MCA) aligned to KANU was Wednesday seriously injured after being hit with a metal rod by his colleague following disagreement over nomination of a member to the County Assembly Service Board (CASB).
Silale ward representative Nelson Lotela was hit on the head and rushed to Baringo county referral hospital where he is undergoing scanning to ascertain the degree of the injury.
The incident happened Wednesday morning in the office of Minority Leader Sam Lourien when the KANU MCAs disagreed when their two nominees tied at five after they took a vote.
Mr. Lotela was fronting Tangulbei/Korossi ward rep Shadrack Mailuk while the deputy speaker Ameja Zelemoi was supporting the outgoing board member Solomon Makal.
Following the squabble over who should be nominated to represent the party in the assembly service board, a member is said to have picked a metal rod with which he clobbered the Silale MCA on the head sending him sprawling on the floor.
In the subsequent melee, nominated MCA Caroline Jepkesei who attempted to scream for help as the door had been locked from outside was given a hard slap on the cheek by one of those supporting the nomination of Makal.
Speaking to the press outside the hospital after admitting Lotela, Ms. Jepkesei said they had postponed nomination of the member Tuesday night after lacking a quorum but on resuming this morning and voting for the two nominees, they tied at five votes each ending in a serious disagreement over who should take the slot.
Ms. Jepkesei claimed that after tying, some members walked out of the voting session and a member who she declined to name closed the door from behind and left with the key leaving the two warring camps in the room.
“The doors were closed and the keys were taken by one member whose office we were using and the female counterparts started screaming inside the room during the fight,” narrated Jepkessei.
Jubilee party Majority Leader Lawi Kipchumba had submitted the name of their nominee last evening, Saimo Soi ward representative Richard Cheserem, and KANU was supposed to complete the exercise this morning after being hit by lack of quorum.
The Majority Leader who condemned the fighting said the ugly incident has really tainted the image of the House and was likely to affect Wednesday’s house business because of the tension and animosity among their KANU counterparts.
“If somebody has been defeated, he or she should accept the verdict in a very democratic way rather than fighting each other and we are condemning the act especially the deputy speaker leading the fight. This is totally unacceptable because he should be a role model to other MCAs,” said the Majority Leader.
Tuesday, Mogotio ward representative Charles Kosgei moved a motion calling for the disbandment of the County Assembly Service Board citing poor leadership and integrity issues, a motion which was unanimously passed.
By Benson Kelio/Joshua Kibet
