More details linked to the impeachment of Nairobi County Speaker Beatrice Elachi have emerged with a number of legislators questioning the authenticity of a degree she acquired in Dubai.
The embattled speaker reportedly splashed a fortune of taxpayers’ money to acquire an honorary degree after attending a three-day leadership summit.
The degree awarded by the Commonwealth University in December last year is believed to have cost City Hall an estimated Kshs 655,000.
According to sources at City Hall, the speaker had attended a Leadership Summit at Arabian Courtyard Hotel in Dubai and was awarded a degree.
She is also accused of spending loosely, paying Kshs 10,000 for her academic gown and spending a similar amount on her graduation dinner on each of her two other guests accompanying her to the conference.
The County Assembly Majority Leader Abdi Guyo told Kenyans.co.ke that the MCAs were bothered by the use of public funds to facilitate the speaker's trip and activities that preceded the acquisition of the degree.
"We do not have a problem with the degree. Our main concern lies in the fact that the taxpayer's money has to be used by the speaker to acquire the degree. If she could have used her own money, no one would have asked her any question about it," stated Guyo.
Leaked documents showing her making an insurance claim to CIC which covers City Hall indicated that the insurer declined to refund a whooping Ksh1,310,198 for an amniotic allograph conducted in the US.
Amniotic allograph stem cell therapy is in some cases done on patients with severe burns as it helps to grow skin graft.
Ms Elachi is alleged to have undergone as similar a knee surgery at Neuropathy on May 30 this year.
She wrote to the insurer seeking reimbursement for the medical expenses.
In a letter dated July 1, 2018, CIC wrote to City Hall stating that they would not pay for Elachi's claim basing their decision on the terms agreed in the county assembly health policy.
Further distress emerged after leaders discovered the speaker had flown abroad paying for a First Class ticket alongside her aides James Mwangi and Hawa Mohamed.
The returns tickets for the speaker and her personal assistants cost the public Kshs1.5 million.
MCAs say the move to eject her from office was bred by her own making blaming her for repeatedly disregarding the lawmaker’s decisions.
“She does not listen to us and thinks her decisions are final. We are not ready to work with such an individual,” stated Guyo after 103 MCAs voted to impeach the speaker.
Ms Elachi could not be reached on phone to comment on the matter on Thursday morning.
