Garissa MCAs accuse county executives of ignoring summons

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Members of the Garissa County Assembly have raised concerns that several County Executive Committee Members (CECMs) have failed to honour invitations to appear before the House to answer questions about the performance of their departments.

The legislators said repeated letters and formal invitations issued to the County Executive had not been responded to, which they argued undermines the Assembly’s constitutional oversight role.

During Friday’s plenary sitting designated for questions to the Executive, Labasigale MCA Mohamed Sheikh urged Presiding Speaker Adow Omar Said to give clear direction on what he described as a worrying pattern of non-compliance.

“This is not only disrespect to this House but also to the people of Garissa who elected us to keep the Executive in check,” Sheikh said.

The matter arose after the chairperson of the Committee on Education, ICT, Vocational Training, and Library Services, Omar Abdi, issued a notice of motion seeking the House’s approval of the committee’s report on a public petition by residents of Waberi Ward over the lack of ECDE classrooms at Bula Tawfiq.

MCAs said that out of three CECMs invited to respond to departmental queries, only one communicated an apology through a text message, which members said did not follow proper procedure.

Dertu MCA Aden Hassan Odhowa called on the House to consider issuing summons and, if necessary, initiating contempt proceedings against any county executive who fails to honour Assembly invitations.

“Accountability is not optional. We cannot continue passing budgets while the Executive avoids scrutiny,” Odhowa said.

In response, Speaker Adow directed that debate on the motion to adopt the report on the ECDE classrooms at Bula Tawfiq be postponed to the afternoon sitting on Tuesday next week.

Fafi MCA Hassan Kolosh also urged the Assembly to issue formal summons with a seven-day ultimatum, saying failure to comply should trigger enforcement measures under Section 30 of the County Governments Act and the Assembly’s Standing Orders.

The CECMs mentioned during the debate head the departments of Health; Water, Environment, Climate Change and Natural Resources; and Roads and Public Works.