Senate upholds Meru Governor Kawira Mwangaza's impeachment
Senators have voted to send besieged Meru Governor Kawira Mwangaza home on the third attempt after voting to uphold all three charges levelled against her by the Meru County Assembly.
With the Senate being treated to drama before the voting, it was just a matter of when and not if, Ms Mwangaza was going to be the first governor to be impeached after the August 9, 2022 elections.
Although it took long to confirm the obvious after the ringing of the division bell with the clock ticking towards midnight, the dice had been cast with senators, mostly from Azimio vocal in their protests with Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna calling Speaker Amason Kingi an "embarrassment".
And when the voting began, the majority of the senators, mostly from the Kenya Kwanza fold, voted to uphold all the three charges the first-term county boss faced.
On the first charge of gross violation of the Constitution and other laws, 26 senators voted in support, four against while abstentions were 14.
On the second charge of gross misconduct, 26 voted in support, two against while abstentions were 14.
On the third charge of abuse of office, 26 senators voted in support, one against while abstentions were 14.
Ceases to hold office
The result confirmed the removal of the governor from office by way of impeachment by MCAs passed on August 8, 2024.
"The result of the votes indicates that the Senate has upheld all the charges, pursuant to Article 181 of the Constitution and Article 33 of the County Government Act, the Senate has resolved to remove from office Governor Kawira Mwangaza by way of impeachment. He therefore ceases to hold office," declared Speaker Kingi.
Taking to the floor earlier, Ms Mwangaza pleaded with the senators, blaming Meru Senator Kathuri Murungi for her woes.
She told the Senate how her attempts to make a truce with political leaders in the county had been frustrated by the Senate deputy speaker.
The governor told senators she has been working on her relationship with the MCAs, which she described as a work in progress, and currently has 23 MCAs supporting her from one in the beginning to 10 during the second impeachment motion.
“I am here because of various reasons, one being threats and intimidations to MCAs and external forces from leaders at the county level," said Governor Mwangaza.
"One leader trying to fuel and bring disharmony in Meru is the deputy speaker of this House. I have tried to reach him for a truce but he has been unavailable," she added.
The 50-year-old narrated how she has tried to address all issues raised in prior impeachments to ensure peace prevails in the county.
The steps include increasing ward fund allocation by Sh5 million to Sh15 million but the ward representatives said it was not enough.
"This financial year, we have given every ward Sh33 million to see if at all there will be peace in Meru."
Okolea programme
She added that she has been forced to halt the Okolea programme which the MCAs and the political leadership at the county were not happy with.
"For the sake of unity and bringing people together, I stopped the charity work I have been doing for the last 15 years," said the governor.
“I have taken a lot of steps to see that we are working together even by writing to the Devolution committee of the Senate to look into issues ailing Meru. I even went around Meru saying sorry if I ever wronged anyone. At one time, I even said sorry 70 times for the 69 MCAs and the county assembly speaker,” she added.
