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The on going feuds characterizing Nairobi County leadership will leave a trail of good tidings; this, if history is anything to go by, the residents of Nairobi stand to gain as attempts to plunder county coffers are stopped before taking off, or perpetrators made to face repercussions.
South C Member of the Nairobi City County Assembly Abass Khalif has in weeks on end being on the receiving end of incessant fights directed at him; and the genesis of all the fights is his unwavering efforts to fight graft at City Hall.
According to Abass, Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja has rolled up his sleeves to bring the war to him, but the MCA insists that his is an oversight role, which he will continue to perform to the benefit of the residents of his South C ward and Nairobi at large.
Abass says that the fights he is facing from the governor are not that bad after all but a sure way to keep his popularity on an upward trajectory.
In 1757, English radical journalist and politician, John Wilkes was first elected a Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom. Well aware of his role as an elected legislator, roles which are clearly stipulated as representation, legislation and oversight, Wilkes stood up for the people and during the Middlesex election dispute; he fought for the right of his voters rather than the House of Commons to determine their representatives.
In 1768, angry protests of his supporters were suppressed in the Massacre of St George’s Fields. In 1771, he was instrumental in obliging the government to concede the right of printers to publish verbatim accounts of parliamentary debates and by being a people’s defender, Wilkes had his popularity rise to unprecedented levels.
Back home, Abass and several other MCA have taken the Sakaja administration to task over several cases of suspected graft as they perform their oversight role on the county executive, a move that has not sat well with the executive.
Speaking in an interview, Abass said that his was just to perform his role noting that he has not at any time claimed that Governor Sakaja is involved in corruption but has insisted that there are happenings withing his administration which require thorough check to ensure no public money gets lost at the end.
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“I have not said that Sakaja has stolen anything. All we are saying is that things are not going well and as people, who should oversight the government, I am doing my role and I urge the government to also do his role as the elected governor of Nairobi not sponsoring headlines and stories in blogs to fight me. His fights against me are only making my name even more popular,” Abass said.
“These fights are only making me popular and what we are saying is that there should be due diligence. When we note that something is amiss, it should be investigated and if everything is in order, it is to the benefit of our people of Nairobi and if anyone is found culpable they should face the law. I therefore call on Sakaja do do his work and let us MCA’ do ours for the benefit of the county,” he added.
According to the constitution of Kenya Article 185(3), the legislative oversight to the County government is provided by the County Assembly, on behalf of the public, over all County government matters, including all audits.
Abass took issue with reports that linked him t a building that was demolished by the county government last week noting that the Governor was just using it to drag his name in the mess which would not work.
“I have also heard that the governor is planning to sponsor a petition against myself and the Eastleigh Airbase MCA Fuad Hassan supposedly over our attendance to assembly sittings. He is looking at how many times I speak on the floor of the house and such matters but I want to say that I was elected to represent the people of South C and oversight the executive roles that I am performing with distinction so let them bring it on. Even a person who never knew that Abass existed will now know me as the defender of the public because I will continue to do my roles without fear or favour,” Abass asserted.
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Abass said that the current investigations by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations at City Hall over alleged payments of supplies never delivered to the county government will benefit Nairobi residents who will have have a chance to know if any money was lost from public coffers noting that graft must be stopped to allow elected leaders deliver services to the people.
In comparing Abass to Wilkes, the fights by the county leadership on the MCA is no different and only destined to make the Abass even more popular with Nairobi residents.
Wilkes began his parliamentary career as a follower of William Pitt the Elder. For his stance as a people’s defender, parliament expelled Wilkes in February 1769 on the grounds that he was an outlaw but his Middlesex constituents re-elected him in the same month only to see him expelled again and re-elected in March.
In April, after his expulsion and another re-election, Parliament declared his opponent, Henry Luttrell, the winner but he kept fighting for the rights of the people. In 1774 he became Lord Mayor of London; he was simultaneously Master of the Joiners’ Company, That year Wilkes was re-elected to Parliament, again representing Middlesex.
