Meru Governor Kawira Mwangaza before the Senate at Parliament Buildings Nairobi on Monday, August 19, 2024 during her impeachment trial.
The Meru County Assembly has tabled a dossier against Governor Kawira Mwangaza, detailing, among others, alleged employment of 111 personal staff in her office.
Included in the dossier are allegations of irregular payments of Sh74.3 million in allowances to medics, illegal dismissals and revocation of appointments.
Led by lawyer Ndegwa Njiru, the MCAs defended the charges they have levelled against Ms Mwangaza as they rallied senators to uphold the resolution of the assembly to remove the governor from office by way of an impeachment on August 8 supported by 49 out of 69 MCAs.
Armed with eight lawyers and witnesses, the assembly detailed how public money and resources are being misused in Meru allegedly at the behest of the governor.
While giving the details of the nine particulars of three charges facing the governor, Mr Njiru said Meru is ailing from Ms Mwangaza’s inability to be in charge, leading to a breakdown in governance.
The lawyer described how the county government has turned into a playground for staff victimisation, embezzlement and blame games.
“You (Senate) are being called for the third time to interrogate the character and the ability of Kawira Mwangaza to govern Meru. This cannot be malice or personal vendetta. We are here because there is a serious trust deficit with the ability of Mwangaza to govern Meru,” said Mr Njiru.
Mr Boniface Mawira, also representing the MCAs, said there is a serious problem in Meru that the county assembly has diagnosed and is calling on the Senate to find a cure for it.
Crippled oversight functions
He cited breakdown in governance in Meru where oversight functions are crippled by the Executive, and resolutions and recommendations are disregarded by under the watchful eye of the governor.
“What redress does the county assembly remain with other than coming before you? This House is the protector of devolution and we beseech you to protect devolution that is on its deathbed in Meru,” said Mr Mawira.
Nominated MCA Zipporah Kinya, the mover of the impeachment motion, said the move was in pursuit of good governance, accountability and the need to have Meru people get quality services from the county government.
She said the gross violations by the governor have impacted negatively on service delivery in Meru.
“I would want to submit that Meru people are crying, service delivery is compromised, and there is no witch hunt, malice or external influence on the assembly. My prayer is that this House listens to the cry of the people of Meru and saves them from the agony of crying each day,” said Ms Kinya.
Ms Mwangaza is facing three charges—gross violation of the Constitution and other laws, gross misconduct and abuse of office.
On the first charge, the county boss is accused of illegally revoking the appointment of Meru County Public Service Board secretary Virginia Kagwiria, thus usurping the powers of the county assembly.
The other counts are failing to appoint chairpersons of key county boards and allowing unauthorised persons to oversee public funds without proper accountability. There is also the illegal dismissal of several county board executives leading to significant financial penalties against the county government on account of legal costs and damages.
On the charge of gross misconduct, the governor is accused of misleading the public by falsely claiming that Sh86 million was raised through a paybill number after the murder of Daniel Muthiani alias Sniper, while the actual amount raised was Sh286.5 million, violating the Public Officer Ethics Act and the Leadership and Integrity Act.
The last charge of abuse of office involves authorisation of irregular payments of emergency call allowances to 161 doctors and medical officers using the wrong rates resulting in an overpayment of Sh74.3 million; use of a manual payroll to pay personnel emoluments amounting to Sh102.94 million, and having a bloated workforce of at least 111 personal staff in her office.
This is in addition to continued payment of full salary and benefits to a public communication officer, Christus Manyara, while in custody after being charged with the murder of the blogger.
Taking to the floor to make the governor’s opening argument, lawyer Elias Mutuma tore into the evidence by the assembly, arguing that the impeachment charges facing the governor are based on lies and should be summarily dismissed by the Senate.
He said the county assembly has created a lie, told the lie and repeated it so many times that it started sounding like the truth.
“They actually went ahead and believed the lie and now want the Senate and the entire country to believe the lie,” said Mr Mutuma.
“A rose by any other name shall still smell as sweet. No matter how much mud they smear on the governor, the governor will remain clean and blameless,” he added.
He asked the senators to scrutinise the evidence, ask questions to the witnesses and if it does not add up, send the MCAs back and tell them the impeachment motion is a lie and the fact that they are repeating the lie will not make it the truth.
Repeating same lies
“All they (assembly) are hoping is that they will bring her here so many times, keep on repeating one thing and that we all believe that indeed there might be some truth in it. It does not make it the truth just because they keep on repeating the same lies,” said Mr Mutuma.
Ms Mwangaza’s lead counsel, Elisha Ongoya, termed the charges frivolous, accusing the assembly of abusing impeachment powers just to torment the county boss.
He argued that the problem with Meru County is not Ms Mwangaza because none of her acts of commission or omission warrant her removal from office.
“The document before you, which is essentially the impeachment motion, is simply a manifesto of lies. What can you do to stop this plain nefarious use of impeachment powers?” asked Mr Ongoya. “It matters not whether she shall be brought here 100 times. You cannot victimise her because those who torment her are tireless in their torment against her.”
Read: Facing third impeachment, Mwangaza now wants court to quash law allowing MCAs to reintroduce charges
Earlier in the day, the Senate agreed to summon three new witnesses in the ongoing impeachment hearing following a request by the county assembly’s legal team.
Mr Njiru said the three—Ms Kagwiria, Linda Kiome, the governor’s legal adviser, and Jacob Kirari, the clerk of the county assembly—are crucial to their case against the county boss.
The assembly averred that they have been unable to have Ms Kagwiria appear as a witness while Ms Kiome is accused of forgery of some documents presented as evidence in the ongoing trial. Subsequently, he sought for Ms Kiome to be summoned to speak to the authenticity of the letter.
