Nairobi County Assembly acquires Sh33m, 11kg gold-plated mace
The Seargent at Arms hands over a newly acquired Sh33 million mace to Nairobi City County Assembly Speaker Kennedy Ngondi on Tuesday.
The Nairobi City County Assembly has acquired a gold-plated mace at a cost of Sh33 million, coming amidst a cash crunch that has seen hundreds of staff go without salaries and allowances for several months now.
Nairobi City County Assembly Speaker Kennedy Ng’ondi on Tuesday unveiled the 11kg gold-plated mace that he said will signify the authority of the County Assembly. He also cautioned MCAs against breaching standing orders regarding the mace.
“This is a state-of-the-art mace and a delicate instrument representing the authority of the county assembly as it conducts business. It is required that its custodians and handlers manage it dutifully with the care it deserves,” Mr Ngóndi told MCAs during the plenary sitting on Tuesday.
"I urge honourable members to familiarise themselves with the standing orders regarding the mace to avoid issues."
The newly acquired Sh33 million mace.
Majority Leader Peter Imwatok called upon the MCAs to subject themselves to the authority of the County Assembly Speaker given that the mace is a symbol of its authority.
“This is made of gold. It is a historic moment for the county assembly and you cannot compare this mace to the mayor’s chain that we had before devolution. This mace is under proper security of custody. We call upon our sergeant at arms to keep councilors off the mace...I urge all members to subject themselves to the authority of the Speaker,” Mr Imwatok said.
Cash crunch
The move, however, comes at a time a cash crunch has grounded operations at several departments within the county. For instance, a number of police officers attached to the County Assembly have gone without allowances for several months now.
Operations of county assembly committees have also been halted as a number of them are unable to carry out site visits due to lack of fuel. The county is also lacking basic materials such as printing paper.
Additionally, a number of directors have also not been paid their monthly allowances, leading to low morale among staff.
A section of MCAs has criticised the move to spend millions of shillings on the mace.
“There is no printing paper in the county assembly. We do not have even the Wi-Fi. We have made efforts to travel to the sites to carry out our oversight role but we are told that vehicles don't have fuel,” Dandora Area II MCA Silas Matara said.
