Change impeachment laws, say county chiefs amid Mwangaza woes
Meru Governor Kawira Mwangaza has pleaded with President William Ruto to intervene in her feud with county MCAs.
Governors now want Parliament to come up with legislation setting a timeline for when MCAs can introduce an impeachment motion, as they backed embattled Meru Governor Kawira Mwangaza.
They also want the law to set out a threshold to be met before such censure motions are brought against governors in order to ensure stability of county governments.
Council of Governors (CoG) vice chairperson Ahmed Abdullahi said the Senate and the National Assembly should pass a law providing a definite timeframe as well as threshold for governor’s removal from office.
According to the governors, there are clear rules for recalling members of Parliament but the case is different when it comes to impeachment of governors.
This will save them from overzealous ward representatives who want to settle political scores with governors, they said.
Mr Abdullahi said governors should be given at least one year in office, which is the case for MPs, before any impeachment motion can be introduced.
“At least give the governor half the term before coming up with such a motion,” said Mr Abdullahi. The impeachment of governors is guided by the County Government Act, which provides that a governor can be impeached on grounds of gross violation the Constitution, abuse of office or gross misconduct.
However, the law does not spell out the period within which such a motion can be tabled or what constitutes gross violation of the Constitution and gross misconduct.
“When you say gross violation of the Constitution, what are those thresholds and how do you measure them before proceeding to impeach?” Homa Bay Governor Gladys Wanga posed.
She added that the law on recalling MPs provides that an MP cannot be removed a year into or before an election.
Throwing their weight behind Ms Mwangaza, Mr Abdullahi asked senators to be guided by the rule of law and jurisprudence set by the courts on the threshold for removal of a governor.
The Wajir governor added that the Senate also needs to consider that Ms Mwangaza has been in office for only four months and has not yet fully constituted her government. Ms Mwangaza was sworn in as the third Meru governor on August 26 following her victory over the incumbent Kiraitu Murungi and then senator Mithika Linturi.
Senators will today afternoon convene to consider Governor Mwangaza’s ouster following her impeachment last week.
They are expected to decide whether to prosecute the case through a special committee or in plenary in line with section 33 of the County Governments Act.
Last Wednesday, 67 of the 68 MCAs voted to impeach the governor after just 112 days in office with all members present at the county assembly voting to send her packing.
She is accused of nepotism, illegal appointments, unlawful dismissals, incitement, bullying, misleading campaigns against other leaders and misconduct.
She allegedly appointed her husband as Meru Youth Service Patron as well as to the non-existent position of hustlers’ ambassador without following the law.
She is also accused of appointing five unqualified persons to hold county offices without a transparent recruitment process, making roadside appointments of workers and appointing a committee to allocate taxi bays in Meru town against the law.
Ms Mwangaza is also on the spot for directing ward and sub-county administrators to usurp the functions and mandate of the County Public Service Board.
Further, the motion cited illegal dismissal of four heads of county autonomous bodies before the end of their contract, falsely accusing MCAs of operating like a cartel, corruption, greed and blackmail as well as vilifying and bullying other leaders.
The governor has been at loggerheads with ward representatives ever since taking over office after the August 9 polls. The supremacy battles have raged to the point of Ms Mwangaza appealing to President William Ruto to intervene to restore peace. An attempt by Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua to resolve the impasse by summoning the MCAs for a meeting failed after various political parties opposed it.
If the senate upholds her ouster, she will become the fifth governor to be impeached, joining Mr Martin Wambora (Embu), Mr Mike Sonko (Nairobi), Mr Ferdinand Waititu (Kiambu) and Mr Mohamed Abdi (Wajir). However, Mr Wambora and Mr Abdi were reinstated after the court nullified their ouster.
Impeachment of four other governors, however, flopped after the senate vetoed the decision of their county assemblies. They are Mr Mwangi Wairia (Murang’a), Mr Granton Samboja (Taita Taveta), Ms Anne Waiguru (Kirinyaga) and Mr Paul Chepkwony (Kericho).
