Nairobi MCAs to elect new Speaker on Friday

The search for the next Nairobi County Assembly Speaker has kicked off following the resignation of Beatrice Elachi on Tuesday.

This comes after Acting Clerk Pauline Akuku advertised a vacancy in the office, inviting interested but qualified persons to apply for the position.

The election of a new Speaker is now set for Friday August 14 at the County Assembly Plenary Chamber from 2.30pm.

Those who qualify to be elected for the position of Speaker will be required to download nomination forms from the Nairobi City County Assembly website.

Qualifications

Interested persons must be registered voters with post-secondary school qualification as well as satisfying moral and ethical requirements prescribed by the Constitution, especially Article 193, and must also meet qualifications prescribed by Sections 22 and 25 of the Elections Act, 2011.

They must also not be Members of the County Assembly (MCAs) pursuant to Article 178(1) of the Constitution of Kenya 2010 -- read together with Section 7 of the County Governments (Amendment) Act, 2020, Section 25 of the Elections Act, 2011 and the Nairobi City County Assembly Standing Orders – which provides that each County Assembly shall have a Speaker elected from among persons who are not MCAs.

The Acting Clerk also made it clear that a person who is a State officer or who has held office as a member of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission is automatically disqualified in accordance with Article 193 of the Constitution.

Same goes for one who has not been a citizen of Kenya for at least 10 years immediately preceding the date of the election.

The candidate must also not have been bankrupt or imprisoned in the last six months, or been found to have misused or abused a State resources.