Meru Deputy Governor Isaac Mutuma during a press conference on November 9, 2022.
After almost two years in the cold, Meru Deputy Governor Isaac Mutuma is on the verge of assuming the governorship after the High Court upheld the impeachment of Kawira Mwangaza.
In August last year, the Senate voted overwhelmingly to impeach Ms Mwangaza before she secured conservatory orders to keep her in office.
On Friday, after six months of waiting, Justice Bahati Mwamuye of the Milimani High Court ruled that the Senate had followed due process in impeaching the Meru governor.
Unless Ms Mwangaza gets a stay from the Court of Appeal, Mr Mutuma will be sworn in within the next two weeks, ending two years of incessant wrangling between the executive and the county assembly.
Article 182 of the Constitution stipulates that when a governor is removed from office, the deputy takes over for the remainder of the term.
Mr Mutuma and Ms Mwangaza, a reverend and bishop respectively, have been at loggerheads since May 2023 when the deputy governor was excluded from the cabinet as political rivalry intensified.
Ms Mwangaza said she chose Reverend Mutuma as her running mate "after intensive prayers, fasting and consultations" ahead of the August 2022 General Election.
All was well between the two leaders until the deputy governor was accused of secretly collaborating with those behind the impeachment plot.
In the ensuing power struggle, Mr Mutuma's staff was withdrawn, his office was relocated and he was side-lined in county affairs.
The deputy governor later revealed that he started seeing red flags after his guests were barred from attending the inauguration luncheon in 2022.
Mr Mutuma, 44, first went public with his fallout with Ms Mwangaza in August 2023, a year after they were elected in a historic victory that saw incumbent governor Kiraitu Murungi relegated to third place behind former Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mithika Linturi.
In the recent past, the deputy governor has been vocal about the failings of the Mwangaza administration.
“We have been through a lot of tough times in Meru County. We have lost a lot of time and resources and pending bills keep mounting. We are hopeful of a prosperous future ahead,” Mr Mutuma said earlier this year.
Last month, Mr Mutuma poked holes in the medical insurance cover for county staff.
“The finance, health and public service executive members should review the performance of this medical cover. Workers are still suffering despite the government spending millions on this cover,” he said.
So intense has been the feud between Ms Mwangaza and her deputy that in December last year she ordered that he be removed from the payroll for "not working".
Ms Mwangaza ordered the county payroll manager to stop the salary of her deputy and other workers found to have absconded duty.
Earlier, County Secretary Kiambi Atheru wrote a warning letter to the deputy governor for missing 12 county executive committee meetings since 2023.
"Invitation letters for the meetings were being received by you. However, you haven't attended any of these meetings so far. These meetings are critical for the running of this county…Thus, your continued absence from the same is becoming a matter of concern to the chair and the entire committee. Kindly make arrangements to attend the next one,” the letter said.
It is not clear whether the order was enforced, but Mr Mutuma has never protested about being denied his salary.
Mr Mutuma has the support of 47 MCAs, who last year allocated his office an independent budget of about Sh30 million after he complained about being denied funds by the governor.
The deputy governor, an ordained Methodist Reverend, first joined politics in 2022, teaming up with Ms Mwangaza, a battle-hardened, lone ranger politician since 2013.
Mr Mutuma is also a former Prisons officer and holds a degree in Theology from the Kenya Methodist University (KeMU).
“I grew up in a humble family and went to Maua Primary school. After high school, I joined Kenya Prisons Service in 2002 and served for 19 years. I left as senior sergeant and social welfare officer in the Prisons Department,” Rev Mutuma said in an earlier interview.
He said the leadership role he played in the Methodist Church earned him a scholarship to study Theology at KeMU, from which he graduated in 2019.
“While working as a Methodist minister, I got spotted by Governor Mwangaza. She reached out to me in December 2020 and I agreed to be her running mate,” he said.
The deputy governor is confident that his experience in the Kenya Prisons Service and the church has given him sufficient leadership and management skills to run Meru County Government.
Mr Mutuma comes in amid nine impeachment and censure motions against the executive committee members appointed by Ms Mwangaza.
