Homa Bay assembly closed after running battles

Rising tension in the Homa Bay County Assembly has prompted the clerk to direct all staff to stay away until the situation is brought under control.

Ms Faith Apuko last evening wrote to all workers, informing them that the assembly was not safe and they should not report to their offices until further notice.

The notice came after chaos broke out on Monday morning during committee meetings.

Some MCAs were reported to have taken advantage of their presence in the assembly to try to make leadership changes, but those efforts were thwarted when chaos broke out.

“Due to lawlessness witnessed in the assembly today (Monday) and for security reasons, all staff of the assembly are hereby advised to stay away from the assembly until the situation is normalized,” she said.

The letter was copied to Homa Bay County Commissioner Moses Lilan, County Police Commander Samson Ole Kine and the assembly service board.

Working with security apparatus

Ms Apuko said that the House was working with security agencies on security and safety before advising staff when it would be safe to return.

Earlier, two groups of youths fought each other in the assembly compound.

It was alleged that they were hired by two rival factions of MCAs.

One group of MCAs, including some senior members, were said to have made plans to oust another senior official of the House.

They arrived in the morning with goons to help them push their agenda.

But the official had prior information about the plans and also had goons on standby to thwart the attempts.

The assembly was turned into a battlefield when the two groups started fighting as they acted on orders from the people who had hired them.

Police were called in to quell the clashes.

Assembly Speaker Elizabeth Ayoo watched as the youths fought.

Members had planned to hold sittings until July 5 to dispense with pending issues.

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