Dark days for Mwangaza as her luck runs out at the Senate

Meru Governor Kawira Mwangaza now becomes the first county chief to be impeached after the August 9, 2022 elections after the Senate upheld all charges levelled against her by the Meru County Assembly.

The majority of the Senators voted on each of the three charges, sending the first-term county boss home despite the House saving her on two previous attempts.

The charges included gross violation of the Constitution, gross misconduct, and abuse of office.

She has, however, received a ray of hope after the High Court on Wednesday suspended the Senate’s decision to remove her from office, with Justice Bahati Mwamuye saying that the case had weighty issues that needed to be heard in court.

For Mwangaza, her tenure has been plagued with woes and differences with MCAs, who were seemingly hell bent on her exit after impeaching her for three consecutive times. 

She caught many by surprise during the 2022 General Elections when she trounced political giants including former Governor Kiraitu Murungi and former Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mithika Linturi to become the first female to hold the seat in the county.

Further, Mwangaza ran on an independent ticket, showing how much mass appeal she had gained to clinch the seat. 

When she was not engaging in political matters, you would find the first term governor at the pulpit as a Bishop at Baite Family Fellowship Church in Meru. 

Following her victory in the 2022 elections, she said her success was a prophecy come true. From a historic rise to the gubernatorial seat to a sharp downfall orchestrated by the MCAs, Mwangaza’s first term has been one for the history books.

Born in 1979 at Ontulili village in Buuri constituency, the Governor attended Ontulili Primary School but failed to join secondary school due to lack of school fees.

Mwangaza then moved to Marsabit to work as a household staffer at a relative’s home for a year before getting a chance to enroll into Moyale Girls Secondary School. 

She emerged as the best candidate in the region with a C+, and then joined Kampala University and graduated with a bachelor in Guidance and Counselling degree.

During the 2013 General Election, Mwangaza tried her luck in politics but unsuccessfully vied as an MP. At the time, she claimed it was the biggest lesson in life as she used over Ksh.20 million, during the campaign. 

“I was broke and heavily indebted. My husband (musician Murega Baichu) and I relocated to Ruai where we sold onions and tomatoes as we tried to recover financially,” Mwangaza said during an interview in August 2022.

The duo then ventured into the media industry, setting up Baite TV and Baite FM, which grew popular over the years. In the buildup to the 2022 polls, she said that the pressure from the Meru people led her to vying for the county seat.

Mwangaza chose a different strategy from her political competitors to endear herself to the Meru residents.

From entertaining crowds with music and dance during her campaigns to charity work such as donating cows, providing school uniforms, desks, gumboots and scholarships to the needy, Mwangaza promised to put the dark days for the county residents behind them.