Kakamega County Assembly Speaker has suspended a nominated MCA over a message sent via the Assembly’s WhatsApp group.
In a suspension letter James Namatsi accused Victoria Zillah of disrespecting him after reportedly referring to him as “coward” in a text message.
Her suspension came after a recommendation from the Assembly’s Committee on Powers and Privileges.
Consequently, the Speaker ruled that Zillah be locked out of the Assembly for the remainder of the second session.
Additionally, Speaker Namatsi stated that Zillah will be barred from accessing the precincts of Kakamega County Assembly and other facilities enjoyed by an MCA.
“The Powers and Privileges Committee recommended that you be suspended from the House for the remainder of the second session,” the letter read in part.
Further, Zillah will have to formally issue an apology to the speaker upon her return, as per the suspension letter.
However, the decision to suspend Zillah has been met with opposition from a section of MCAs in the county.
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A section of MCAs protested the move, poking holes at the procedure used to recall them from a recess for the process.
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On her part, Zillah protested the decision and accused the Speaker of unfairly targeting her.
According to her, the Speaker had already stripped her of role as a member of the Speaker’s panel unprocedural.
She further vowed to sustain her call for accountability on the part of the Speaker despite her woes.
The ward representative has since vowed to challenge her suspension in court, arguing that the procedure used to sanction her suspension was unprocedural.
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“I was not given a fair hearing and I intend to take legal action,” the MCA told the Standard.
In a subsequent post on her Facebook account, Zillah posted a cryptic message of a screenshot with a definition of the word “coward”.
“I had to confirm if that word changed meaning. It is still the same,” Zilla posited.
Zillah rose to the position of MCA in the county courtesy of a nomination by the Democratic Alliance Party of Kenya (DAP-K).
