The County Assembly of Vihiga has suspended its Speaker Dan Chitwa over corruption allegations.
While contributing to the suspension motion, Nominated assembly member Nathan Kamidi said that the, “speaker needs to be impeached because as the chair of the county assembly service board he has failed in his duties and has been watching over runaway corruption at the assembly”.
The Speaker was suspended over accusations that he used Sh1.85 Million county money to fund his wedding and honeymoon. He is further accused of allocating jobs to his family and friends while also using his position to influence Assembly decisions.
“The Speaker received an imprest of Sh1 Million from the Assembly to facilitate his wedding in April last year."
“He then travelled to Seychelles for (his) honeymoon and it is alleged that the cost of the trip, totalling to Sh850,000, was invoiced to the county assembly,” said Mr Kamidi
The suspension motion which was passed on Thursday evening received an overwhelming support of 34 MCAs out of the total 39.
The county had reportedly been paying the Speaker's rent amounting to Sh80,000, despite him receiving his house allowance. The Auditor-General has recommended that the Speaker and the landlord be surcharged over Sh1.2 Million for the double payment.
On his part, Mr Chitwa termed the move as illegal since the law does not provide for the suspension of the Speaker.
