Relief for Obado as ouster is thrown into doubt after Migori County Assembly adjourns

The much-anticipated tabling of a notice of motion on the intended impeachment of Migori Governor Okoth Obado failed to materialize Tuesday after Migori County Assembly Speaker – Boaz Okoth – adjourned a sitting over unmet physical distancing regulations.



All the fifty-seven Members of the County Assembly had turned up for the sitting following a month-long recess, some anticipating the tabling of the notice of motion by the Majority Leader.



Okoth however said the sitting could not proceed due to the unexpected turnout of members seeking to attend the sitting in person.



 “All members came into the House. We must be cognizant of COVID-19 and there is a way we sit. So, I must get modalities of how we would sit if all members would want to be together at the same time,” the Speaker stated while dismissing the Assembly.



Okoth who briefed the press at the doorstep of the Assembly said he will work on the modalities on how MCAs can resume sittings while adhering to the COVID-19 distancing protocols.



Security personnel had been deployed at the Assembly amid anxiety over possible skirmishes.



Okoth however wondered why security personnel had been mobilized arguing the Assembly was peaceful and that ward representatives are mature to debate their issues soberly.



“Any issue that are there, this Assembly is very mature, they will handle it,” he said.



“The dates of deliberations will have to be pronounced from the Assembly not from Nairobi,” Okoth said in an apparent jab at ODM officials seeking to influence the outcome of the impeachment vote.



Okoth undertook to communicate to the Assembly the date when the motion against Obado will be tabled asking unnamed ODM officials in Nairobi to keep off party affairs.



The Speaker promised to convene an Assembly Business Committee to discuss modalities for resuming sittings.



Deputy Speaker David Chacha announced that the House Business will sit on Wednesday to slot in business for Wednesday and Thursday.



Chacha said an impeachment motion must follow the process prescribed in the constitutions and thus could not be rushed.



“An impeachment is not a one-off process. It is a long process, and it is well stipulated in the Standing Order, Constitution and County Government Act,” he said.



Chacha appealed for calm as the Assembly handles the matter.



“Let there be no anxiety, if anything comes, these are the members who are elected, they will look at it, analyze and make an informed decision,” he said.