A call in the middle of the night from State House led to the abrupt resignation of Nairobi Speaker Beatrice Elachi in what sources reveal is a move by President Uhuru Kenyatta to take control of City Hall operations.
Elachi exited early Tuesday morning having endured turbulent months in which Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko and the Nairobi Metropolitan Services clashed several times in turf wars.
While said her “voluntary” resignation was motivated by a need to enable a good working environment, insider sources privy to the behind-the-scenes intrigues revealed that the Elachi was directed to quit on Monday evening.
In her resignation letter, Elachi said she was leaving office so that Nairobi Metropolitan Service (NMS) can have an opportunity to deliver away from the City Hall shenanigans that had subjected the capital to a situation of ignominy that was previously unthinkable.
“Today I humbly relinquish my position as the Speaker of Nairobi. I want to thank the President for giving me the opportunity to serve for the past three years. Now we have NMS and I think it will be able to transform the city. Because I wouldn’t want someone to die here because of myself or anything else, let me thank him (Uhuru) for the opportunity and just leave,” said
Elachi.
But sources said Elachi had no designs of leaving office and that upon receiving the call to resign she threatened to move to court to block her ouster.
However, she complied with the directive after further consultations with her advisers.
The decision to have Elachi resign, sources disclosed, is intended to “tame” the embattled Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko who has been accused of sabotaging the NMS.
“It is State House that made the decision and she was told that it has to be that way. It was not a decision made out of her own volition. When she became adamant and threatened to go to court, the plan was disclosed to her and she was told that there was no need because she would be given a
government post,” said the source.
Elachi’s resignation only serves to deepen woes at City Hall, which is on the brink of a constitutional crisis with a governor who is barred by the courts from stepping into office, no deputy governor and no Clerk.
Matters took a nosedive shortly after Elachi announced her resignation when the Jubilee Party summoned her Deputy Speaker and Ruai MCA John Kamangu and several other MCAs over “party indiscipline”.
The MCAs are set to appear before the party disciplinary committee tomorrow. It is instructive to note that Elachi, in her resignation notice, proposed that Kamangu succeeds her.
