Governor Mwangaza accused of employing 111 personal staff in fresh impeachment bid

A notice of motion to impeach Governor Kawira Mwangaza has been tabled at the Meru County Assembly.

Zipporah Kinya, a nominated member and the  Deputy  Majority Leader on Wednesday presented the impeachment motion which accuses the governor of abuse of office and misappropriation and misuse of county resources.

Mwangaza, a first-time governor who has survived two impeachment bids, has persisted in “discreditable acts” that violate national and county laws, submits Kinya.

“The discreditable acts have exposed the Office of the Governor, the Office of the Deputy Governor, the Assembly and its leadership and the people of Meru County to national shame, scandal, embarrassment, ridicule and disgrace,” reads the notice of motion.

Among the accusations Governor Mwangaza faces are failure to appoint the chairpersons of various boards such as the Meru County Revenue Board and the Meru Microfinance Corporation; and the illegal revocation of Virginia Miriti’s appointment as the county secretary without a vote of not less than 75 per cent of all the Meru MCAs.

Mwangaza is accused of paying emergency call allowances to 161 doctors and medical officers using the wrong rates, leading to excessive payment of Ksh. 74.3 million; and using a manual payroll to pay personnel emoluments amounting to Ksh.102.9 million

She is also accused of employing “a bloated workforce of at least 111 personal staff” in her office, which Kinya says has contributed to a spike in the wage bill by over Ksh.500 million.

Further, Governor Mwangaza is faulted for paying a staff member in her office his full salary and benefits while he was in remand over a murder case.

The Deputy Majority Leader argues that reconciliation efforts have borne no fruit and the Mwangaza’s continued stay in office has “persistently undermined effective and efficient service delivery and gravely hurt the interests of the people of the county.”

Last November, Mwangaza survived the second impeachment bid after a majority of the 47 senators failed to uphold any of the seven charges the Meru County Assembly brought against her.

The Meru MCAs had voted unanimously to eject her from office on grounds of misappropriating county resources, nepotism and unethical practices, bullying and vilifying other leaders and usurping her statutory powers.

The governor was also accused of contempt of court, illegally naming a public road after her husband and contempt of the Meru County Assembly.

Mwangaza’s first impeachment bid was in December 2022 but an 11-member Senate committee probing the grounds for her ouster submitted that all charges levelled against her were unproven.