The rift between the Mombasa Executives and Members of the County Assembly has widened following the impeachment of Transport and Infrastructure Executive Taufiq Balala.
The impeachment came after Jomvu Kuu MCA Athman Shebe tabled a motion seeking for his removal. According to MCAs, Balala was unable to account for more than Sh3 billion allocated to his docket. The said amount was wired into the docket for a period of three years.
The angry legislators claimed that Balala has proven to be incompetent after he allegedly failed to install lights on the streets of Mombasa and collection of revenue during his tenure in office.
The MCAs said that they will no longer tolerate cases of officials assigned county duties to be used by influential government officials to derail their agenda. They were referring to Mombasa Governor Ali Hassan Joho, a close ally to Balala.
“We have sent out a warning shot that the county assembly will no longer be used by the executive as a rubber stamp. We are ready to strike at any incompetent public officer,” Mr Shebe said, as quoted by Standard.
The motion to impeach Balala was seconded by Bofu MCA Ahmed Salama.
However, Mtopanga MCA Lucy Chizi was against the move to send Balala home. She claimed that the CEC needed more time to deliver on his promises