Meru Governor Kawira Mwangaza Impeached for the Second Time in 10 Months
Meru Governor Kawira Mwangaza has faced her second impeachment in just 10 months.
This time round, Majority Leader Evans Mawira gained unanimous support from the 59 present ward representatives for his motion. It is important to acknowledge the absence of 10 members who had previously opposed the impeachment but were not in attendance during the assembly. Speaker Ayub Bundi officially permitted the motion to be discussed after verifying that 64 of the 69 representatives had signed it, meeting the lawful threshold for impeachment proceedings. The governor’s legal team tried to prevent the debate using legal loopholes. However, Speaker Bundi reacted by asserting the proceedings must carry on unabated.
In December 2022, the county assembly impeached Governor Mwangaza amid various allegations including the abuse of county materials, nepotism, unethical conduct, libels towards other leaders, illegal appointments, untrue foothold of legal powers, defiance of court rulings, unauthorized naming of a public street after her spouse and contempt of the assembly. However, the Senate overturned the resolution on December 30, 2022. While presenting the motion, Mr. Mawira underscored the importance and validity of impeaching the governor. As a consequence, four executives were forced to take a year-long leave, with full pay.
Despite this move, Ms Mwangaza, who was defended by seven lawyers led by Danstan Omari, called out the motion and deemed it flawed and defective from the onset. In her defence, Omari cited multiple discrepancies made by the assembly and their violations of set regulations. Mr Mutuma, referencing ongoing court cases, sought guidance from the Speaker on whether the debate should continue. Nevertheless, Speaker Ayub Bundi declined to address the concerns raised by the lawyers, stating that the motion would proceed.
The impeachment process came into question when Lawyer Mutuma suggested that the MCAs had been coerced and influenced by other parties. Despite this, all MCAs who were present gave their backing to the impeachment, justifying that their aim was to demand accountability from the executive after previous efforts had flopped. They also rejected the governor's lawyers' claim that the motion was sub judice, asserting that the assembly was operating in accordance with the principle of separation of powers. Additionally, they denied taking any oaths at the Njuri Ncheke shrine or acting on the instructions of outsiders.