Equity Bank City Hall branch gives way for MCAs lounge

Equity Bank is set to vacate its City Hall branch in three months to give room for a Nairobi MCAs lounge.

Clerk Jacob Ngwele said on Wednesday that City Hall is waiting for the bank to leave before taking over the space for use by the more than 100 legislators.

Most of the lawmakers have no office space and will, therefore, use the lounge whenever they are not in the Assembly.

“They (Equity) have acknowledged vacating by August 3,” Mr Ngwele said.

“We will then create a lounge for the members as most of them have no place to sit and often you will see them in the streets.”

Previously ward representatives (councillors) had a lounge near the mayor’s office but this has since been converted to be part of the governor’s office.

City Hall was divided into two after the new government came into office, with one wing going to the executive while the other was given to the legislators. The bank had occupied part of the lawmakers’ space.

Equity’s exit comes barely a year after the bank ceased being the county’s banker and City Hall repaid all its loans.

In March last year Equity threatened legal action over the default of a Sh5 billion loan that City Hall took up in 2011.

The bank gave City Hall two weeks to repay or the county government would be taken to court and the county’s file forwarded to the Credit Reference Bureau.

This saw KCB buy out the loan from Equity and take up the role of the county’s main banker for a period of eight years.

County Finance Executive Gregory Mwakanongo said that Equity Bank’s lease area will end in August and will not be renewed.

He added that there are no plans to offer the bank alternative space. Co-op Bank and Family Bank have leased space at City Hall Annexe, a county-owned property.