Isiolo MCAs Set Tough Conditions for Governor Guyo’s Cooperation
Members of the Isiolo County Assembly (MCAs), along with Speaker Mohamed Roba Qoto, have returned to their chambers—recently vandalized during political unrest.
The MCAs in Isiolo town speaking to crowds who had come to welcome them wasted no time before making a set of demands for Governor Abdi Guyo for any collaboration to resume.
The return which comes after the MCAs’ attempt to impeach Governor Guyo on June 26 was dismissed by the Senate on July 8 for failing to follow proper procedure.
Tensions over Assembly leadership further complicated the impeachment bid. Confusion arose after a resignation letter allegedly from Speaker Qoto surfaced through Assembly Clerk Salad Boru.
Qoto dismissed the letter as a forgery. In the aftermath, Finance CEC and former Isiolo South MP Abdullahi Banticha was gazetted as Speaker on June 27. However, this move was later reversed by Clerk Boru via a special gazette notice on Monday, reinstating Qoto as Speaker.
Speaking at a rally in Isiolo town, the MCAs declared that cooperation with Governor Guyo would only resume if he addresses the issues outlined in their failed impeachment motion and in reports by the Auditor General.
Ngaramara Ward MCA Peter Losu said the Governor must tackle critical concerns including overstaffing, irregular procurement practices, lack of service delivery, and the revival of stalled development projects. He warned that failure to act on these issues could lead to a renewed push to remove the Governor from office.
According to the MCAs, the County government has unlawfully expanded its workforce—appointing 36 advisers instead of the legal limit of four, 31 chief officers instead of the allowed 18, and two deputy county secretaries when only one is permitted.
“The Governor was instructed to clean up the County executive payroll, which the said includes hundreds of ghost workers. This issue has been flagged by the Assembly, the Senate, and the Auditor General,” said Chari Ward MCA Halima Abgudo to the roar of supporters.
She also alleged nepotism and favoritism in hiring, claiming that many of the ghost workers were brought in from Nairobi when Guyo served as an MCA, while unemployed youth from Isiolo remain sidelined.
The MCAs emphasized that they would not tolerate any further interference from the executive in Assembly affairs.
Sericho Ward MCA Abdubakar Godana accused the executive of meddling in the appointment of Assembly leadership, including Speaker, Clerk, and even majority and minority leaders.
“We will uphold our oversight mandate without external interference,” Godana said.
The group also called on police to expedite investigations into the vandalism of the Assembly premises, where property worth millions of shillings was looted or destroyed by hired goons.
Nominated MCAs Fauzia Gibril Bore, Amina Omar, were expelled from United Democratic Party ceasing to be assembly members. Assembly waits for further communication from the party on their replacement.
Meanwhile, 11 out of 18 MCAs voted to replace Oldonyiro Ward MCA David Lemantile with Wabera Ward MCA Selasio Kiambi as from a committee of the assembly.
Speaker Qoto confirmed that the United Democratic Movement (UDM) party had formally notified the Assembly that Amina Omar and Fozia Jibril had been expelled from the party and their nominations revoked.
He instructed the Clerk and Sergeant-at-Arms to treat the pair as non-members and bar them from accessing Assembly premises.
