MCAs Meeting Turns Chaotic as They Engage in Physical Altercation
On Wednesday, February 19, a physical incident between MCAs caused havoc at the County Assemblies Forum (CAF) meeting at KICC.
Although the forum began in a peaceful fashion, several of the lawmakers became very adamant about how the event should be handled.
Other officials had to step in to defuse a violent conflict between a number of County Assembly members, as seen on video.
At the center of the controversy was Peter Imwatok, the leader of the Nairobi Majority, who was accused by certain MCAs of preventing them from expressing their opinions.
As other members watched, angry MCAs were shown in the video being forcefully restrained from fighting.
In recent weeks, Imwatok has been the focus of controversy when several Busia County MCAs accused the Nairobi Majority Leader of playing divisive politics.
Each time Imwatok visited their counties, the lawmakers, led by Burumba MCA Tony Onyango and Busia MCA Beatrice Akinyi, accused him of trying to divide the Western Kenya bloc.
MCAs also rekindled their conflict with the Council of Governors (CoG) during the County Assemblies Forum, threatening to shut down house operations in all 47 counties on Monday, February 24, if their demands for more compensation and autonomy for county assemblies are not met.
The Ward Development Fund (WDF), which the CoG claims compromises the separation of powers by giving MCAs executive functions, is at the center of the conflict between governors and MCAs.
In contrast, MCAs think the WDF gives them the ability to deal with grassroots development.
The legislators are fighting for financial autonomy for county assemblies, arguing that they have become beggars since they rely on governors to disburse funding.
The MCAs accused the Council of Governors of postponing their request for up to a month, saying, “Starting Monday, we will have to paralyze all assemblies for our concerns to be addressed by the Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA), CoG, and Controller of Budget.”
