Nairobi County Assembly acquires Sh33m ‘state of the art’ mace amid cash crunch
The Nairobi City County Assembly has acquired a gold-plated mace at a cost of Sh33 million amidst a cash crunch that has seen hundreds of staff in the county assembly go home without salaries and allowances for several months now.
Nairobi City County Assembly Speaker Kennedy Ng’ondi on Tuesday unveiled the 11kg gold-plated mace that he said is expected to signify the authority of the County Assembly and cautioned MCAs against breaching the standing orders regarding the mace.
“This is a state-of-the-art mace and a delicate instrument representing the authority of the county assembly as it conducts business. It is required that its custodians and handlers to manage it dutifully with the care it deserves. I urge the honourable members to familiarise themselves with the standing orders regarding the mace to avoid issues,” Mr Ngóndi told the MCAs during the plenary sitting On Tuesday.
Majority Leader Peter Imwatok called upon the MCAs to subject themselves to the authority of the county assembly speaker given that the mace is a symbol of its authority.
“This is 11kg made up of gold. It is an historic moment for the county assembly and you cannot compare this mace to the mayor’s chain that we had before devolution. This mace is under proper security of custody. We call upon our sergeant at arms to keep of MCAs off the mace and I urge all members to subject themselves to the authority of the speaker,” Mr Imwatok said.
The move however comes at a time a cash crunch has grounded operations at several departments within the county assembly.
A number of directors have also not been paid their monthly allowances leading to a low morale among staff.
The decision to spend millions of shillings on the mace has provoked some opposition from a section of MCAs who feel the money should have been spent on other deserving services.
Dandora Area II Silas Matara called upon Mr Ngóndi to prioritise the work of the MCAs.
“There are no printing papers in the county assembly. We do not have even Wi-Fi. A number of times we have made effort to travel to the sites to carry out our oversight role but we are told that vehicles do not have fuel. We needs the committees to work to ensure that we are working as MCAs. By the end of the term, our performance is going to be rated on the business that we conducted,” Mr Matara said.
According to a tender for the mace issued in January this year, the mace is made up of made of heavy-duty steel and lined with fire-resistant materials to withstand high temperatures for up to four hours at 1,000 degrees centigrade.
It is to be stored on a safe fitted with a robust deadbolt locking system to prevent unauthorised access.
The neck is supported by the crests that are made up of four solid brass struts that appear four times around the mace, each strut plated with 18-carat gold, and the neck plated with 18-carat gold to house the four stones.
jmoturi@ke.nationmedia.com
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