Nairobi Assembly Speaker Ken Ng’ondi On The Spot For Sexual Harassment

Nairobi County Assembly Ken Ng’ondi has found himself in hot coal following a viral video of him forcing a handshake that has been viewed as a physical and sexual harassment by many observants. A section of Kenyans are now calling for commencement of criminal charges against him.

In the video seen by Kenya Insights, the speaker who was celebrating his birthday and shaking hands with other MCAs, stretched out his hands to unnamed Muslim lady in the crowd she was however unwilling to shake his hands back. Mr. Ng’ondi then proceeded to grab her hand in a bid to force the handshake.

The Speaker appeared to ‘tease’ her into shaking his hand while he put his arm around her shoulder dragging her to stand up. Noticing the attention drawn to her, she covered her face with her black hijab.

It could be seen that in her unwillingness to shake hands, they were not in good terms and he acknowledged that fact, he can be heard saying “today you must greet me, it’s my birthday,” he then goes ahead to lift her up to force her for a photo op, in this scuffle, he ends up grabbing her breasts.

Reactions

The video has elicited anger from many who’re now calling for a firm action against the county speaker.

“This is physical assault, a gross trespass to the person of the lady. I will be very suprised if criminal charges are not preferred.” Lawyer Ahmednasir said.

“This woman has all the right to level charges against him as it qualifies as sexual harassment intimidation aside. She should have stood up and told him ” don’t dare lay your hands on me ” . Trust me even a fool will come back to his senses. If I am the husband of this women I will certainly sue him.” Hotelier Mohammed Hersi said.

“Uncouth. The woman shoukd take legal action.” Billow Kerrow, former Mandera Senator added.

Meanwhile, the Association of Muslim Lawyers’ in Kenya has issued a statement condemning the act and calling for the DCI to promptly investigate the matter and press charges on the matter.

“The Association of Muslim Lawyers vehemently condemns the despicable act by the Speaker of the Nairobi County Assembly, forcefully demanding a Muslim woman to shake his hand which amounts to sexual and physical assault. Such reprehensible behavior is criminal, unethical, immoral and not only violates her religious beliefs but also constitutes a grave violation of bodily autonomy and dignity.” The statement reads in part.

Sh1 million bribery

Staying in the oven, the speaker has at the same time been accused of bribery.

Mr. Ng’ondi is being accused by Ronald Angwenyi Orina of taking Sh1M bribe from him with the promise of securing him a county chief executive job that he didn’t deliver.

In a letter dated 21st February, 2024 and addressed to the speaker and Governor Johnson Sakaja, Mr. Ronald is asking for a refund from Mr. Ng’ondi for failing to meet the end of the bargain for the unholy deal.

“Following our earlier communication to the effect that the process of seeking for employment as Chief Officer for Nairobi City County Government you were pursuing for me was unsuccessful, I plead with you to find reason to return the KES.1, 000,000 you received from me for the purpose.” Mr. Ronald states.

He adds that his action for seeking refund has been prompted by harsh economic times in the country adding that he’s still jobless having been allegedly conned by the speaker and worse that he’s an orphan who is struggling financially.

Mr. Ronald in the letter seen by Kenya Insights says that the speaker has been avoiding him, “you lately seem to have avoided me in a manner that is now hide and seek and it appears you do not seem to bother whether the money you received from me had a purpose and the sole purpose which was to help me secure a job in government.” It says.

“It would not be the right thing to make me incur extra cost calling for help from all and sundry to ensure that you find meaning to return the money not unless knowingly or willfully your intention was to fraudulently obtain from me without intention of helping to secure a job.”

He also added that he holds solid proof of the claims including hard copy documents, photos, video footages, mpesa records and live witnesses.

He asks the leader to advice on when he’ll pay him back.

Common fraud

What befell Mr. Ronald is unfortunately not unusual with many desperate job seekers getting fleeced millions by relatively powerful individuals who rob them in the pretext of securing them opportunities by the allure of their perceived influence.

A prominent case is that of a Mr. James Abuki who lost over Sh9 million to a strong youthful Kisii MP with a powerful position in the parliament and who had convinced him to secure his place as Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS).

Mr. Abuki’s dreams quickly become a nightmare as he has been left Sh9 million in the red, after borrowing extensively to pay “facilitation fees” to people he thought were senior civil servants close to President William Ruto, and who would catapult him into a corner office.

His concerted efforts to recover the money has been futile with police taking too long to investigate the matter that has run cold since June 2023 when he first reported it to Kasarani Police Station.

So brazen are the fraudsters of this vicious racketeering ring that in some instances , they register new phone numbers in the names of senior government officials, such as Head of Public Service Felix Koskei, to hoodwink their prey into believing that bribes are being channeled to the right people in high places to facilitate plum jobs.

Perhaps of more concern, the racketeers have infiltrated some State corporations, whose staff use official emails to trick victims into thinking that they are being considered for corner office jobs. This, it turns out, is just bait to extract more bribes from the unsuspecting victims.

Meanwhile, the pressure on the police to take action on the speaker continues to Mount and only time will tell how this goes. As for the bribery allegations, the EACC is responsible for investigating.