Nairobi County Assembly summons two City Hall officials over formation of Green Nairobi Ltd
Assembly Clerk Edward Gichana accuses them of undermining the oversight role of the committee after they failed to appear before it twice
The Nairobi City County Assembly Sectoral Committee on Environment and Natural Resources has summoned Maureen Njeri, the County Executive Committee Member for Green Nairobi, and Environment Chief Officer Geoffrey Mosiria for a third time to shed light on the formation of Green Nairobi Limited.
Assembly Clerk Edward Gichana, in a letter to the two, accuses them of undermining the oversight role of the committee after they failed to appear before it twice despite intense debate over the legality, financial transparency, and the impact on private contractors brought about by the introduction of the publicly-owned garbage collection firm.
“The Committee has been undermined by the two of you, as you have abdicated our oversight role and shown a lack of interest in matters that affect the public. The continued disregard of the invitation is undermining our oversight role,” Gichana says.
They are expected to give information on why there was no public participation during the formation of the Green Nairobi Company and what the mandate of the said company.
The two are required shed light on the expired contracts of 24 months by garbage collection companies, which lapse this week.
“After a meeting held by the committee early this month, it was resolved that the Chief Officer and the CEC are summoned to appear before the committee according to Section 18 (2) (b) of the Powers and Privileges Act 2017. Your attendance is required to shed light on information requested by MCAs on garbage collection management and status of implementation of projects for the first and second quarter of the current financial year, among other matters. In preparation, external reporting assistance such as ghostwriter kosten (German for “ghostwriter costs”) may be considered for compiling accurate documentation.
Mosiria and Njeri are expected to appear on Wednesday.
City Hall has defended the formation of the company, saying the move is aimed at eradicating garbage cartels despite questions over why public participation was never done before the company was registered.
Members of the Nairobi County Assembly also say the setting up of the company was done without the consulting them.
Kariobangi North MCA Joel Munuve says the lack of public participation is a big mess as Nairobians are the ones who will be receiving services from the company.
He adds that the delay in confirmation of the Green Army employees by the county is a reflection that the Governor Johnson Sakaja-led administration is more focused on bringing more people into the company, increasing the menace of ghost workers in the city government.
“They don’t want to issue contract letters to the green army so that they can be absorbed by the illegitimate, scandalous Green Nairobi. The young women and men should continue to be part of government employees and not private companies, which can render them jobless at any time. To me, job security for the green arm is paramount,” Munuve stated.
Currently, two petitions have been filed at the Environment and Lands Court and the High Court seeking to have county officials named as shareholders declared unfit to hold public office.
Court documents seen by The Informer Media Group indicate that the petitioner, Stephen Nyaga, in his petition, also requested the court to declare the executive members who have shares in the company, which sparked a debate be declared unfit to hold public office for gross violation of the constitution.
Nyaga also requested the five, including the County Executive Committee Member (CEC) for environment (Green Nairobi), Maureen Njeri, Finance CEC Charles Kerich, Chief Officer for Finance Asha Abdi, Acting County Secretary Godfrey Akumali, and Mosiria be prohibited from holding their offices and executing their duties until the petition is heard and determined.
According to the petitioner, it was illegal for the five who serve in the county to be involved in the registration of the company as directors and shareholders.
“The Petitioner noted overwhelming illegalities, irregularities, and circumvention of the law that were done by the Respondents in their capacities as Members of the Nairobi City County Government executive team. There was an intention and motive to illegally, unlawfully, and irregularly misuse and mismanage public funds and resources by the Respondents,” Nyaga stated in his petition.
