Wajir Governor Mohamed Abdi Muhamud has been removed from office after the Senate found him guilty of gross violation of the Constitution.
A total of 31 senators participated in the vote on Monday, with 25 of them voting in support of his removal, two opposing and four abstaining.
In a strange twist, Nyamira Senator Okongo Omogeni, who chaired the special committee that investigated the governor, abstained from the vote, marking the first time in history where a report was disowned by its author.
Others who abstained were senators Ochilo Ayacko, James Orengo and Mutula Kilonzo Jr, while Samson Cherargey and Kipchumba Murkomen voted to save the governor.
“The net effect of the vote is that Mr Muhamud has been impeached and ceases to hold office,” Senate Speaker Kenneth Lusaka ruled after the vote.
Wajir Governor Mohammed Abdi before Senate committee
The Special Committee of the Senate, which was formed to investigate charges levelled against Mr Abdi by members of the Wajir County Assembly, found him culpable of gross violation of the Constitution and recommended his removal from office for this reason.
In their motion, the MCAs levelled two charges against the governor, supported by a total of 17 allegations.
The first charge was gross violation of the Constitution and others laws, which was supported by 15 allegations, while the second charge was of abuse of office, which was supported by two allegations.
In its verdict, the committee absolved the governor of 15 allegations, most of which contained claims of egregious malfeasance ranging from procurement and financial improprieties.
The MCAs succeeded in substantiating two allegations, but one, according to the committee, did not achieve the threshold required to impeach the governor.
The committee found the governor failed to offer the people of his county the best healthcare and recommended that he be removed from office.
However, the recommendation had its contradictions. According to Mr Omogeni, no evidence was adduced by the MCAs to reinforce the charge and the committee "merely took the MCAs' word”.
The allegations stated that a county employee died at the Wajir County Referral Hospital for lack of oxygen.
It was also said that the governor failed to fuel an ambulance, forcing the family of a patient to dip into its pockets to buy the commodity, besides buying tires for the vehicle.
“The MCAs had no particulars on this charge but the committee took the MCAs' word,” Mr Omogeni said.
“The committee has considered the evidence submitted by parties and found the allegation on the violation of the rights of health of the people of Wajir County substantiated and that the violation meets the threshold of impeachment,” he added.
The MCAs had also alleged in their motion that the county leadership caused the health sector of the county to run into disarray and end up in a deplorable state, hence compromising and undermining realisation of the right to the highest attainable health standards as enshrined in the Constitution.
However, the governor, in a personal statement to the House, pleaded for mercy from the lawmakers, saying he had done a great deal to improve the state of healthcare in the county.
“Under my leadership, I have done more than enough in terms of healthcare despite the challenges we face because of the vastness of the county and the long distance from Nairobi,” he said.
He told the lawmakers that he repaired all the ambulances that had broken down before he took over and that 16 of them were in operation as part of his efforts to offer the highest possible standards of healthcare.
“The diagnostic survey by the national government showed that my county has an 89 per cent approval in disease diagnosis,” he said, noting that another study placed his county at position 20 out of 47 on the availability of medical equipment.
Wajir governor's impeachment hearing
The governor further argued that the problem was exacerbated by the fact that the county is not on the national grid and relies on diesel-powered generators to provide electricity, something he said was the cause of the unpredictable nature of power supply.
Governor Abdi said his government procured another generator with a bigger capacity which, if installed, will improve the supply of electricity in the county and its health facilities.
“I wish to plead with you to be sympathetic with me. You cannot remove me from office because of one allegation. I may have failed but it is not on the scale of gross violation of the Constitution,” he said.
“Look carefully at the facts. Be humane. Give us a chance so that we can serve the people of Wajir," he added.
