Impeachment motion filed against Turkana County Assembly Speaker Christopher Nakuleu
Turkana County Assembly Speaker Christopher Nakuleu.
Turkana County Speaker Christopher Nakuleu is facing impeachment over claims of gross misconduct and incompetence.
Turkana members of the County Assembly want to throw out their Speaker, a former Turkana North MP, and have already endorsed an impeachment motion to that effect.
Already a special motion seeking his removal from office was moved by Kalokol MCA Michael Epem on Tuesday and endorsed by a majority of members of the County Assembly.
The MCAs accuse the speaker of gross misconduct, incompetence and gross violation of the Constitution.
However, those defending him claim the speaker’s troubles began when he questioned why beans were missing in the relief food procured by the county government.
The impeachment bid is going on despite the embattled speaker moving to court to seek an injunction to stop the MCAs from proceeding with the special motion, citing procedural flaws.
A majority of the MCAs went ahead to pass the motion overwhelmingly after daylong discussions on Tuesday.
Presiding Speaker Samwel Aliwo consequently directed the establishment of a seven-member committee to investigate the allegations against Mr Nakuleu within seven days, in line with the Constitution.
The committee is tasked with examining the charges and reporting back to the Assembly within seven days.
“During this period, Mr Nakuleu retains the right to appear before the committee and may choose to be represented during the investigation. The committee's findings will be presented to the Assembly for further deliberation and final decision on the Speaker's future," Mr Aliwo said.
PhD candidate
Lokichar MCA Samwel Lomodo who is against the impeachment bid said that the Speaker is a PhD candidate, hence cannot be accused of incompetence.
"I oppose the impeachment motion in totality because it is political without sufficient grounds to remove him from office. For those who are doubting, let us meet in court," Mr Lomodo said.
He said that the mover of the motion was not competent enough to justify the baseless allegations against the Speaker because his motion lacked substance. He termed the impeachment bid as ‘hot air.’
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According to Lobei/Kotaruk MCA Mr Anarclet Lemuya who is also opposed to the motion, MCAs seeking the Speaker’s removal from office claim he has been hostile and arrogant to some, belittling and disparaging them.
"Gross misconduct talks about theft, fraud, dishonest behavior, physical violence, and negligence. No evidence except the speeches done outside the assembly are given as grounds for impeachment," Mr Lemuya said.
He said the Speaker was well-schooled and worked with the East Africa Legislative Assembly and also as a Turkana North Member of the National Assembly, and saying he was incompetent without justification was an injustice to him and the people of Turkana North.
"Unilaterally adjourning assembly proceedings prematurely can't also be ground because we have to be cognizant of the facts under which the Speaker invokes Standing Order Number One," he explained.
Other grounds leveled against the Speaker included giving misleading information to the public.
But MCAs supporting the Speaker argue that he is the spokesperson of the county assembly and can do the oversight role.
Song'ot MCA Mr Bethwel Kobongin while supporting the motion said that under the leadership of the Speaker, staff and MCAs have failed to get their dues and salaries for the last 11 months and it was not clear where the money for committees goes to.
Majority leader Stephen Edukon said that while the Speaker is an intelligent person, he suffers managerial deficiencies because County Assembly staff and MCAs are all suffering.
"The Speaker also flouted employment procedures by filling some positions without advertisements, like the chairperson of the County Assembly Service Board. He is like a dictator short of managerial skills and that is why we are currently in a mess," claimed Mr Edukon.