Speaking when he appeared before the Senate committee on devolution on Thursday, the Mombasa county Assembly speaker told the committee that it is a matter which was beyond his reach.
“On impeachment, I cannot comment because I am not the person who brought the motion to the Assembly,” Ibrahim said.
He said that it was up to the members of the county Assembly to decide whether they were to execute the matter or not.
But the committee quizzed as to why the assembly decided to execute the matter despite the fact that the Senate urged the Assembly to put on hold the matter to which he argued that he did not receive a written document which he could have relied on in halting the process.
The speaker told the committee that the Assembly is concerned with the tendencies of some county executives who he accused of constantly disregarding Assembly invitations to be grilled over the usage of public resources.
He pointed out that it is paradoxical for the county Assembly to approve funds to the executives who are not ready to be subjected to ultimate scrutiny and oversight.
Ibrahim told the committee that he is not aware of the mastermind of a lobby group in Mombasa which is collecting signatures to dissolve the county Assembly indicating that he cannot link Mombasa governor with such clandestine acts because he does not have any evidence on the same.
“On the lobby group, that thing has happened outside our Assembly, it was on social media they call themselves residents of Mombasa. I can’t say it is the governor who organized that, because I don’t have evidence, and I don’t think the governor can do something like that.”The speaker said.
The custodians of the county assembly said that the relationship between governor Joho and the Assembly is good but they have some concerns with the delivery of services of some of his executives.
The committee warned that the lobby group’s bid will not succeed because the law allows impeachment of the whole county government but not solely the Assembly.
Mombasa senator Mohammed Faki urged the county Assembly and the governor Ali Hassan Joho to find amicable solution warning that Mombasa has been adversely affected in the past adding that it started stabilizing after the handshake of president Uhuru Kenyatta and opposition chief Raila Odinga an initiative which the two factions must bear in mind.
Consequently, the senator insisted that the truce must be reached in order to deliver services to Wananchi.
The Mombasa county Transport and infrastructure executive Tawfiq Balala has impeached on Tuesday just a day after the Mombasa governor Ali Hassan Joho appeared before the same committee accusing the assembly of plotting to kick out the executive over his failure to approve 200 free parking stickers.
