Youth lock Kisumu county assembly gates as suspended majoriy leader defies order

A Kisumu County Assembly Orderly breaks a padlock that had been put by youth on April 30, 2015 opposed to Majority Leader Samuel Ong'ow saying he had no authority to steer House business having been suspended by his ODM party. PHOTO | TONNY OMONDI | NATION MEDIA GROUP 

In Summary

• It took the intervention of Assembly security guards who cut the padlocks before members were allowed in.
• Mr Ong’ow accused the party of bias saying gross misconduct of members of the Assembly was a responsibility of the House Whip and not him.
• Acting Speaker Gabriel Ochieng chaired the evening session where more than a half of members were absent.

By SILAS APOLLO
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Business at the Kisumu County Assembly was interrupted temporarily on Thursday after irate youth and members of civil society locked gates to the premises.

The youths accused suspended Leader of Majority Samuel Ong’ow of defying a directive by ODM secretary general Ababu Namwamba suspending him.

Mr Namwamba in a letter to the Mr Ong’ow on Wednesday directed him and his deputy John Olum to vacate the positions over what he said was gross misconduct.

Chanting anti- Ong’ow slogans, the group also accused him of orchestrating the alleged assault of deputy Speaker Pamela Omino who was violently ejected from the debating chambers on Tuesday.

They called for an indefinite adjournment of the Assembly to allow the warring factions dialogue and settle their differences.

“We are no longer in an era where beating people is justified as was witnessed in the Assembly last Tuesday. It is also time that Mr Ong’ow obeyed the decision by the party to suspend him,” said Mr George Owuor, an activist.

IN BAD LIGHT

They said the defiance risked paralysing operations of the Assembly and casting it in bad light with the party.

It took the intervention of Assembly security guards who cut the padlocks before members were allowed in.

However the defiant Ong’ow said he will not relinquish his position stressing that the party had not followed the right procedure.

Mr Ong’ow accused the party of bias saying gross misconduct of members of the Assembly was a responsibility of the House Whip and not him.

Acting Speaker Gabriel Ochieng chaired the evening session where more than a half of members were absent.

“I am the bona fide Assembly Leader of majority. The purported letter from ODM is a political witch-hunt directed to malign my name,” he said.

At the same time, a section of members of Kisumu Assembly challenged Mr Ong’ow to bite the bullet and relinquish his seat.

Mr Aggrey Ogosi of East Seme said it was time Mr Ong’ow accepted the decision by the party.

He said the leader of Majority was a victim of poor counsel and accused him of imposing himself on members even after a directive from his party.

“Mr Ong’ow should be wiser and relinquish his seat for others to lead. As an Assembly we have been going through conflicts occasioned by poor counsel from the Leader of Majority,” he said.