Meru Governor survive impeachment
Meru Governor survive impeachment
Beleaguered Mercu For the second time, Governor Kawira Mwangaza has escaped an impeachment motion brought before the Senate. The governor will continue to hold office as a majority of lawmakers voted against each of the seven accusations made against her.
“The division’s outcome shows that none of the impeachment allegations have been upheld by the Senate. Senate Speaker Amason Kingi announced after the senators had finished casting their votes that “the Senate has failed to remove from office by impeachment Governor Kawira Mwangaza and the Governor accordingly continues to hold office.”
The governor was accused of seven things, including misappropriation and misuse of county resources, nepotism, bullying and defamation of other leaders, usurpation of statute powers and illegal appointments, contempt of court, naming a public road after her husband illegally, and contempt of the Assembly. The governor had been impeached by 59 MCAs of the Meru County Assembly.
Regarding the first accusation, twenty-eight senators disagreed with the evidence supporting the assertion of embezzlement and misuse of county finances, while nineteen senators agreed. Fifty-five senators voted against the second allegation of nepotism, while five senators supported it.
44 senators disagreed with the third accusation of her harassing and degrading other leaders, while 3 senators supported her impeachment. Twenty Senators supported the MCAs on the fourth accusation of unlawful nominations and misuse of statutory authorities, while 27 Senators disagreed. While 44 senators voted that the fifth contempt of court accusation had not been proven, three senators believed there was enough evidence to support the allegation. Forty-three Senators disagreed with the four senators who believed that the evidence satisfied the necessary threshold regarding the charge of fraudulently naming a road after her husband.
Ten senators agreed that the governor had displayed disrespect for the County Assembly on the final accusation, while 37 senators disagreed. Throughout the two days of the session, attorneys for the MCAs and the governor were questioned by senators as various sides presented their cases.
Through their attorney Muthonu Thiankolu, the Meru County MCAs made the claims against the Governor, claiming that the county chief had shown an inability to cooperate with other leaders, which had resulted in irreconcilable differences. The Governor was already the target of three motions seeking her impeachment, therefore the MCA’s attorney begged the Senators not to spare her.
Speaking on the testimony stand, one of the witnesses claimed that the spouse of Governor Kawira Mwangaza had intimidated and told him not to return to his position, even though a court order had permitted him to do so.”We attempted multiple times to be reintegrated into our workplace since we were dismissed without a formal procedure,” remarked Paul Mwaki Arimi, the CEO of the Alcoholic Drinks Control Board-Meru
.Governor Kawira, however, rejected the MCAs’ evidence and entered a not guilty plea to each of the seven accusations.Her attorneys fiercely defended her, laying forth their case and calling a number of witnesses.
“The problem of financial misappropriation. One of her attorneys said, “We have a complaint that was submitted to the EACC; we do not have any report from the Auditor General.
The Meru Governor stated that the MCAs had previously buried the hatchet and accused them of being mislead.”Members of the County Assembly of Meru have been subjected to pressure by the same leaders, and as a result, they were compelled to sign an impeachment motion,” Governor Kawira said.
After escaping a similar attempt in December 2022, the Meru Governor made an appearance in the Senate for an impeachment hearing for the second time. The 62 charges against her were found to be unfounded by a special 11-member committee chaired by Senator Bony Khalwale of Kakamega. The committee was constituted to look into the claims made against the senator.
