Machakos Chamber Row: August 2011

Kalonzo's henchmen lose

in Chamber leadership row

By Anchor Reporters

The Kenya National Chamber of Commerce & Industry has finally nullified the alleged elections of officials of the Machakos Branch of the Chamber of  Commerce.It all smacks of stupidity as the headquarters penned probably the seventh letter on the leadership of the virtually worthless branch, sending observers to wonder what interest lay in the branch.

As usual, a letter written to the Machakos district commissioner, this time by another National Chairman Mr Laban Onditi Rao, the chamber dismissed the purported elections of the branch officials that Machakos DC Kobia Kamau claimed had been elected in peaceful elections on April 21,2011- which was not true.
Mr Onditi, insisted that the team that was elected 12 May 2006, under the chairmanship of Mr Paul Mbole, still held office. The row at the chamber in Machakos has also seen Mr Mbole, part ways with the Mwingi North MP Kalonzo Musyoka, admonishing the VP in a blistering attack and terming him as an elder who stoops to scoop porridge from a calabash.
Onditi indicated that a High Court order had instructed that all chamber elections from branches to national level should only be held under the new Articles and Memorandum Association which has yet been formalised.
As a result, Mr Rao said that any elections held before the formalization of the same is null and void including that of the Machakos branch.
He said his office validly recognises Mr Paul Mbole (chairman), Felix Mativo (V/chairman),Mrs Mary Musyoka (secretary) and Mrs Irene Mwanzia (treasurer) as the bonafide officials of the Machakos branch.
The letter was written following complaints from the business community in Machakos town that there existed two camps of branch officials of the chamber.
The national chairman said that new developments concerning day to day activities of the national office will be always communicated to Mr Mbole’s team.
The letter was copied to the Machakos district trade development officer, Clerk to the Machakos Municipal Council and Mr Ruben Muange, the claimant purported to have been elected at Cottage Hotel as chairman of the group, triggering an unprecedented mayhem in leadership of trade in Machakos.
It is not the first time his selection is being annulled. A man signing as Chamber Chairman Mr Stephene Mbugua wrote on April 29 2011 that Muange’s election was doubtful as chamber members were not aware that an election had taken place on April 21,2011 as alleged, and set a process to have an election held.
But as fate would have it, another letter dated the same day emerged, also to the DC, annulling his earlier one and apparently leaving Muange in office. Days later, Muange and his coterie of lobbyists trooped into the office of the Vice President, His Excellency, the Hon. Dr. Stephen Kalonzo Musyoka, EGH, MP and purported to secure his election.
Mr Mbugua and an official from the Registrar of Societies were called in an instructed to leave the Machakos Branch alone. The group posed for a picture with the VP that they used to intimidate traders in Machakos that the show down was over- in effect showing that the VP was endorsing the illegal tenure of a team that had no legitimacy whatsoever as leaders of trade in Machakos.
Mbole made attempts to seek audience with the VP to understand why he(the VP) would endorse a flawed election at a time the Mwingi North MP was embarking on a nationwide election seeking to be president.
After several visits to the VP’s Jogoo House where the VP indicated he was busy and could not discuss issues with Mr Mbole and an intervention by Kaiti MP Gideon Ndambuki that the VP meets Mr Mbole over the matter, Mr Mbole decided enough was enough and declared that his relationship with the VP was ended.