Drama unfolded at the Municipal Council of Nakuru chambers today at a special general meeting convened to reconstitute various standing committees after rival councillors engaged in name calling following a notice issued by the town clerk calling off the meeting on legal grounds.
Out of the 20 councillors in the council, only 12 turned up for the meeting which saw new members elected to head the 8 standing committees.
8 councillors allied to the ODM party boycotted the meeting.
A notice signed by the town clerk Mr. Wilson Maroa indicated that the meeting would not take place on grounds that he had been served with a court order stopping the same.
Those who took part in the elections led by deputy mayor Damaris Mbuthia dismissed the notice as a conspiracy to derail justice adding that none of them had been served with the court order.
She said that it would have been procedural for the town clerk to serve them with a copy of the court order or read it out in the chambers.
It is still unclear whether a court order had been issued since the town clerk was out of office and our telephone calls went unanswered.
She said that the law allows them to conduct elections in the absence of the council’s chief executive officer so long as there is a quorum and a public officer signs in place of the CEO.
During the meeting the following councillors were elected: Zack Njeru – chairman finance, Joseph Munyiri-environment, Humprey Mwaniki- water, Christopher Maritim- Education, Maina Maniga- audit among others.
It still remains unclear whether those elected will be legally allowed to occupy their offices since they were not sworn in the hurriedly held elections.
The incumbent Mayor Mohammed Surrow who is allied to the ODM party also skipped the elections.
Former Mayor David Gikaria called on those elected to work hard to implement the council’s policies in the remaining 5 months.
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