Embattled Kisumu County Speaker Onyango Oloo on Thursday, September 19 spoke out on the state of affairs after he was kicked out of office on Wednesday afternoon, Septemeber 18.
Oloo who exclusively spoke to Kenyans.co.ke vowed to fight back, "under the sea, on land and all air," to have himself reinstated.
This is after the speaker was impeached in absentia in a controversial vote where it is claimed that the number of votes cast surpassed the number of MCAs present.
"I was not present but Journalists and members present informed me that there were 26 members but when the votes, were counted, they totaled to 42, we must have gone back to the times of Jesus where miracles happened," he mocked.
The impeachment motion was moved by Kondele MCA Joachim Oketch on Tuesday, September 17, but put to debate on the Wednesday afternoon session.
Oketch presented 10 points on why Oloo needed to be be impeached to allow the assembly to elect a substantive Speaker.
Among the allegations leveled against Speaker Oloo included failing to conduct house proceedings in a free, fair, objective and impartial manner, failure to allow executive bills to be debated and being subject of an active corruption investigation.
After the debate, no MCA stood to support the embattled Speaker, prompting the acting Speaker Elisha Oraro to call for Oloo or his legal representative to defend himself against the allegations but they were nowhere to be found.
Oloo however, defended himself by explaining that he was blocked by police and hired goons and thus there was nowhere way he "could be found to explain himself."
He further stated that he was not summoned to appear before the assembly for that particular session as required by law.
"The law says I should be given a specific hour notice and not one hour as they did. I was also not served with any documents concerning the ongoing matter," he claimed.
The speaker further condemned the removal of the selection and the house business committees by the acting speaker which according to the law should be untouched for the duration of the assembly.
Oloo further questioned the speaker's authority especially since the maze, which is the symbol of authority in the assembly, was being kept elsewhere and escorted by county askaris to the assembly.
"Who is keeping the maze? Why is it being escorted by the police and county askaris? Where is the independence of the assembly? Is the speaker a puppet that he allows his symbol of authority to be kept elsewhere?" he inquired.
Oloo’s also insinuated that his impeachment was orchestarted by the county executive after he signed a Ksh11.8 billion 2019/20 Budget and Appropriation Bill whose delayed enactment is attributed to longstanding differences between the county chief and himself
