Police IG Douglas Kanja summoned over dumping of trash at Kenya Power offices

National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula has ordered the summoning of the Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja to shed light on the dumping of garbage outside Stima Plaza on Monday.

Wetangula on Wednesday directed Parliamentary Committee Chairperson Gabriel Koshal Tongoyo to summon IG Kanja after MPs condemned the actions by the Nairobi County Government, terming them as "criminality and abuse of the law".

The Speaker faulted the police boss for remaining coy on the issue, which he warned that if not addressed, it would reduce the country to a "wild-waste and publicized criminal behaviour" where goons can be allowed to act outside the law.

“Ole Tongoyo, we shall not allow this country to be reduced to a wild-waste behaviour where you disagree with somebody and you send goons and hooligans to go and sort out your mess. That is not Kenya, and you must stop it. I direct you to summon the IG to find out why no action has been taken against this publicized criminal behaviour by the City Government of Nairobi,” said Wetangula.

Tongoyo in his response said the IG would be required to appear before the House on Thursday next week, “I am well guided and we are going to have the IG summoned and appear before the Committee next week on Thursday.”

The motion to summon the IG came after Minority Leader Junet Mohamed and his Majority counterpart Kimani Ichung’wa called out Nairobi County and the police boss for overseeing the trashing of garbage and swill at the heart of the Central Business District (CBD).

Junet slammed the County for its "intimidating" conflict-resolution methods, arguing that the County ought to have pursued other ways of settling its debt instead of dumping the waste outside one of its creditors.

He called out the county for "uncouth and primitive" acts, adding that if the irresponsible behaviour was not addressed, nothing would stop the county government from dumping waste outside homes in the name of unpaid water bills.

“KPLC is a very important institution in our country and is a publicly listed company that is also oversight in this House. Many people have defaulted in paying their bills, and it is not only Nairobi County, if you can't afford to pay your bills, you negotiate with the person you owe money. You don’t use other means to intimidate them to let go of the debt. I condemn that matter because it is an uncouth, primitive and irresponsible way of dealing with an issue,” he said.

“The county has been trying to clean the City but this act is unacceptable. The governor must apologize to Kenya Power and the residents of Nairobi. What will stop him from dumping waste outside my house if I default on payment of water bills?” Junet posed.

MP Ichung’wa echoed Junet’s sentiments censuring the County officials for the act. The lawmaker wondered why the police did not intervene to stop the unlawful incident, further condemning the governor and county leadership for the acts.

According to the MP, the incident not only violates major acts of integrity and ethics but is also an abuse of power and public resources which were used to dump and later clean the affected area.

“What we have seen around Stima Plaza is a criminal act. Where are the police that should be ensuring that there is law and order everywhere? The IG must take decisive action and it must begin with the drivers who drove those trucks there. From drivers to the people who instructed them, up to the governor,” he said.

“Under the EACC Act and NEMA Act, these are not only criminal acts but acts that go beyond integrity and ethics. They are touching on economic crimes because you are dumping garbage deliberately on a road, you will expend public resources to dump and later clean up. It is an abuse of public funds. You can imagine if such governors had policemen on their command, they would be trampling on anyone! Ensure action is taken against those people who dumped garbage outside Stima Plaza.”

Ichung’wa consequently called for the IG and those responsible to be held accountable as he also urged businesspeople affected by the standoff to instigate legal proceedings against the County.

“What if everyone decides to take the law into their hands and do whatever they want, are we going to have a country? The City Council of Nairobi owes businessmen and women in this country money in pending bills which tunes to hundreds of billions. What if the people owed by the county decide to dump their garbage outside City Hall, how would the governor take that?” He stated.

“Business people who have been lamenting that their businesses were affected should take civil action against the Nairobi County for compensation for loss in businesses. KPLC are tenants of Stima Plaza, it is owned by pensioners.”

He added, “You should direct the chair of the Security Council to summon the Police IG and explain to the committee and this House how can they be watching when criminality takes root unchecked and nobody is doing anything about it."