By Betty Luke
Isiolo Assembly clerk Salad Boru is a man under siege following recent accusations of abuse of office and gross misconduct by MCAs.
Led by majority leader Abdirashid Ali, the MCAs said Mr Boru had failed to adequately address welfare issued for the MCAs and the assembly staff exposing them to unnecessary suffering.
“The statutory deductions for the county assembly fraternity have not been remitted in the last 11 months while it is usually deducted on our payslip. Where does the money go to?” wondered Mr Ali.
The deductions, according to the ward representatives, include the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) National Social Security Fund (NSSF), LAPFUND and loans owed by the assembly staff to different lending institutions.
“It is unfortunate that our hard-earned money cannot benefit us as it should just because the accounting officer is not exercising their responsibility as required. We have families to feed, loans to service and other needs that we are currently unable to take responsibility of,” lamented Nominated MCA Rahma Abdikadir.
The leaders also took issue with what they termed as relocation of the assembly’s administrative office to Nairobi affecting the normal operations of the house.
“The clerk has disregarded all the national values and principles of public service as expounded in the constitution by denying members of access to the assembly’s financial report,” read part of a statement signed by 14 MCAs.
Majority Whip Nicholas Lorot said “The clerk should act professionally failure to which we will institute a motion for his removal”.
The ward representatives want the assembly board to furnish them with information on how the deductions were being made and provide explanations over discrepancies.
“If we will not receive a report from the board by Monday (July 29), then we will use the powers granted by the constitution to remove him from office,” said Mr Ali.
The move comes a day after some of the MCAs walked out on assembly speaker Mohammed Roba Qoto ahead of a press briefing where he asked Gen Zs to suspend the anti-government protests and give President William Ruto time to address their issues.
