CITY MCAs PLOT TO IMPEACH DEPUTY GOVERNOR

A plot by ODM and Jubilee allied MCAs at the Nairobi City County to impeach Deputy Governor Jonathan Mueke is in the pipeline.

According sources well-versed with the scheme and political intrigues to topple Mueke, allegations are that he has been involved in shoddy deals and has also failed in his duties as deputy of Governor Evans Kidero. They also want to delve into and probe his private accounts which they say now run into millions for the short stint he has been at City Hall.

Before landing his current position, his financial position was nothing to talk about according to those who knew him then. He now boasts of having money to fund even a presidential election. While at Wiper party which sponsored him, Mueke was low keyed and contested the Westlands parliamentary seat in the 2007 general elections. 

The MCAs further allege that after his election, Mueke has set up a cartel that is busy collecting money from would- be suppliers. The man he uses to collect kickbacks from suppliers and contractors is his personal assistant, one Samuel Kiala, it is alleged. The scam targets employees in the procurement and some unscrupulous businessmen. It is alleged he runs companies through proxies which he has been seconding to get lucrative tenders at City Hall.

They say that Mueke has been sidelining MCAs in his activities and instead has opened up a private office in town where he runs his activities instead of operating from City Hall. It is from this office that suppliers and contractors are allegedly forced to part with hefty kickbacks before their payments can be processed.

Those pushing for his ouster further say that he has been involved in multi-million financial scams involving fraud and some contractors have also complained of being intimidated and harassed by the same cartel and forced to part with huge sums of money so as to either get tenders or have their cheques processed.

The MCAs are said to have reached to almost half the number to support their plan. The plot to impeach him comes barely a week after a report revealed that contractors at Nairobi City Hall are demanding for payments of over Sh300 million withheld by the county secretary Lillian Ndegwa. Sources say Ndegwa has withheld the payments for verification. It is believed that a cartel of contractors have been asking for fictitious payments for goods not delivered.

It is not known if some of the contractors whose cheques have been retracted from the bank are associated with the Mueke cartel. The report reveals that some of the contractors whose cheques have been withheld were in garbage collection.

How Mueke, accused of fighting his own Kamba tribesmen holding senior positions at City Hall will handle the impeachment headache is eagerly awaited in the corridors of City Hall. A senior Kamba City Hall officer was overhead at a Machakos town pub lamenting that he is being fought by Mueke using a fellow Kamba Timothy King’ondu who is the health executive.

Mueke has also reportedly been using a section in the county assembly to lay grounds to run for governorship in 2017. It is said that his plan to run for the post in the next elections has not been received well by senator Mike Mbuvi, a fellow Kamba.

Sonko is understood to be eyeing the governor’s slot on a TNA ticket although a section in Nairobi politicians from Mount Kenya region are out to block him on the basis that he used the Kikuyu vote to win while his own tribesmen voted for opposition in 2013. It is on these grounds, they argue, Sonko got more votes than President Uhuru Kenyatta in Nairobi county.

Elsewhere, there was drama last week at the Milimani residence of Kisumu deputy governor Ruth Odinga when the househelp run berserk hitting the children under her care. One of the children was rushed to AAR Services as police were called to restore order. She is said to have hit one of the children with a panga. Eye witnesses say it could be a case of mental disorder.