Three weeks after surviving impeachment for the second time in 10 months, Kericho Governor Erick Mutai’s attempts to reconcile with Members of the County Assembly (MCAs) opposed to his leadership have hit a snag.
Overtures by the governor were spurned, with County Assembly Speaker Patrick Mutai stating that before any reconciliatory meeting between the executive and legislature is held, the assembly first needs to put its own house in order.
Governor Mutai had invited MCAs to a consultative meeting, which he said was in line with his “commitment in the Senate to build consensus and bring together the leadership in the Kericho County Assembly, being the first oversight and implementation body for county projects”.
According to the governor, the agenda included post-impeachment unity, development project rollout and the supplementary budget. The meeting was scheduled for September 11, 2025, at the International Training Centre (ITC) in Browns Plantation.
However, Speaker Patrick Mutai wrote back to the governor stating that the House leadership had considered the invitation but resolved that internal issues needed to be addressed first before engaging the executive.
“The matter (invitation) was deliberated during a meeting convened by the Leader of Majority and attended by members on September 10, 2025, at the County Assembly Chambers after the morning sitting,” the Speaker said.
He explained that the internal reconciliation was meant to “foster unity and consensus among members,” after which the legislature would reach out to the executive to agree on a suitable date for a joint meeting.
“The members expressed appreciation of your gesture and commitment to constructive engagement. However, it was resolved that, given the current circumstances, the Assembly requires an internal reconciliation session among its members before holding a joint meeting with the Executive,” he said.
The Speaker further assured the governor of the Assembly’s “highest consideration” as both arms of government worked to foster harmonious relations in the interest of the people of Kericho County.
Governor Mutai and Speaker Patrick Mutai have been at loggerheads for over a year, with the political rivalry expected to culminate in a direct gubernatorial battle in 2027.
After being saved by the Senate, Governor Mutai has consistently maintained his innocence, claiming that he is being made a political sacrificial lamb.
“A senior politician from my county and other powerful forces are behind the impeachment process, and they are not hiding it. They have used every trick in the book to drag me into the corruption mud for political expediency—but they have failed,” he said.
The governor added: “They have flogged me politically like a snake in a bid to terminate my career. But God, the truth, and the people are on our side.”
He said the executive and legislature need to cooperate to deliver development instead of engaging in “political witch hunts.”
“We will be judged in the 2027 poll by voters based on our development record, not political machinations, which I have endured for the last three years. I am grateful that the people of Kericho are fully behind our agenda, and we will not disappoint them,” said Dr Mutai.
The Speaker has also come under fire from some politicians and residents, who accuse him of being a key player in the impeachment drive.
“I want to tell the Speaker (Patrick Mutai) that we are watching him. He should remember that as a former CEC for Finance and also Roads and Infrastructure, he has a lot of skeletons in the cupboard,” Governor Mutai said at Litein trading centre, a day after the Senate overturned his impeachment.
Speaker Mutai has declined to comment on the unfolding political scenario, even as his name is repeatedly dragged into assembly wrangles.
Recently, 24 MCAs, reeling from their failed bid to oust the governor, vowed to paralyse operations of the county executive in retaliation.
On October 2, last year, 31 MCAs voted to impeach Governor Mutai in a motion sponsored by Sigowet MCA Kiprotich Rogony, but the Senate overturned it 12 days later on technical grounds.
Led by Majority Leader Philip Rono, the MCAs met in Chepsir on the outskirts of Kericho town to strategise on their next course of action.
They resolved to impeach three unnamed CECs and to seek disciplinary action against five colleagues—Dominic Mutai (Kabianga Ward) and nominated MCAs Bavina Sereme, Winny Langat, Gabriella Chepngeno, and Noela Opilee—for allegedly skipping eight consecutive sittings without the Speaker’s permission.
“For now, we accept that our impeachment motion was defeated at the Senate, but we have many options to achieve our goal. When the Assembly resumes next week, residents of Kericho will see how we deal with the executive,” Rono said.
He added that demonstrations were planned over alleged pilferage in the revenue collection system and poor service delivery in the six sub-counties of Belgut, Bureti, Ainamoi, Soin Sigowet, Kipkelion West, and Kipkelion East.
Kapsoit MCA Paul Chirchir claimed that the impeachment was not lost on technicalities, as alleged, but due to “deep-rooted political factors”, which he said had exposed the Senate’s role beyond protecting devolution.
Sigowet MCA Rogony, who sponsored both impeachment motions, said that while another immediate impeachment was constitutionally barred, MCAs would “explore other options” to hold the executive to account.
Among their proposals is starving the executive of funding in the supplementary budget to cripple its operations.
