Sakaja gazettes first sitting of Nairobi MCAs

Members of the Nairobi City County Assembly will have their first sitting on Thursday, September 29, a gazette notice from the office of Nairobi governor has indicated.

During the session that will begin at 9am, the MCAs will be sworn in after which they will elect the speaker and the deputy speaker of the county assembly.

The notice further instructed any member interested in vying for the position to pick their nomination papers from the clerk.

The Nairobi City County speaker’s position will pit President William Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza Alliance against Azimio la Umoja One Kenya coalition led by Raila Odinga.

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Azimio has already fronted former Nairobi County Assembly Deputy Speaker Ken Ngondi for the position while Kenya Kwanza has fronted immediate former speaker Benson Mutura.

Azimio has a slight majority in the assembly comprising of 67 MCAs while Kenya Kwanza has 53 MCAs. Three of the MCAs are independents.

For the past few weeks, sources indicate intense lobbying has been ongoing in the assembly in a bid to get the numbers that would help Kenya Kwanza win the powerful speaker’s post. Mr Sakaja yesterday was having a meeting with 50 of the 67 Azimio la Umoja MCA’s.

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The MCA’s however insisted that the only discussion that they had with the governor was the gazettment of the first sitting.

At the meeting, Mr Sakaja also blamed the delay in the calling of the first sitting to the empty coffers at City Hall and the need to look for cabinet members to fill vacant positions.