In a bid to prevent misuse of letterheads, the County Assembly Service Board, through its chairperson Speaker Beatrice Elachi, announced a new letter head will be adopted.
The new letterheads will be adopted for the Office of the Speaker, clerk and the County Assembly Service Board.
The announcement was made via a notice that was published in the newspaper last Friday.
“It is notified for the general information of the public that the city Assembly Service board has adopted new letterheads,” the notice read.
“This is in accordance with the Nairobi City County Flag and other Symbols Act, 2013 which provides for the flag and other symbols and prevent the improper use of the county flag and of certain symbols, names, words and likenesses for professional or commercial purposes and for matters incidental thereto,” read the notice.
As a result, the old letterheads have been discounted.
Elachi had told the Star that they had changed the security features to block fraudsters from using the letterheads.
“We just want to prevent the misuse of letterheads that might be used to mislead the public. Any person using them is a charlatan and the Assembly will not be held liable for any business transacted by their use,” she said.
Minority Whip Peter Imwatok said that the decision was arrived after it had been alleged that embattled County Assembly clerk Jacob Ngwele was improperly using of letterheads.
Imwatok accused Ngwele of misusing the letterhead to procure visas.
“What the board does not want is a repetition of what Ngwele did last year. Changing the letterhead will prevent further misuse,” he said.
The decision to change the letterhead comes at a time when Ngwele has been reinstated as the official signatory of the County Assembly, Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) accounts.
Wrangles between Elachi and Ngwele escalated last year which saw him being hounded out office.
Despite a court ruling on October 30, 2019, that reinstated Ngwele as the clerk of the assembly, the board appointed Monica Muthami as the acting clerk.
However, an ad hoc committee was formed by the assembly last November to look into the issues surrounding the appointment of Ngwele as the clerk established that he was irregularly appointed.
As a result, Ngwele’s name was revoked on the floor of the house as the clerk.
In a letter dated December 27, 2019, Solicitor General Kennedy Ogeto had written to Speaker Elachi advising on the status of the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) of the Assembly.
Ogeto had maintained that as per the court ruling on October 30, 2019, Ngwele had been reinstated as the clerk of the assembly.
He also noted that on November 26, 2019, the Employment and Labor Relation Court suspended the appointment of Monica Muthami and or any other persons as an acting clerk.
“A letter dated December 18, 2019, addressed to the National Treasury with a copy to you, we advised that Mr Ngwele is the de jure clerk to the County Assembly, on the basis of the consent recorded in the Employment and Labour Relations Court Petition No. 194 of 2019 on October 30, 2019,” reads the letter.
The Solicitor General also recommended the designation of an additional officer of the County Assembly under Section 148 of the Public Finance Management Act; one 'Mr Ndana' was the additional officer.
This was for purpose of facilitating payment of salaries of the staff pending resolution of the administrative challenges currently being experienced by the County Assembly.
As established by the Star, when Allan Igambi became the County Executive for Finance, he wrote to IFMIS to notifying them that the County Treasury only recognizes Ngwele as the accounting officer of the assembly.
However, the additional officer Ndana's name was not removed, leaving two accounting holders of the assembly.
But on Thursday last week, the additional officer was removed leading to his reinstatement as the official signatory of the County Assembly, CBK accounts.