'I'm not guilty,' Meru Governor Kawira Mwangaza tells Senate on impeachment charges

Meru Governor Kawira Mwangaza allegedly recruited her relatives as a technical team for the purposes of traveling to China to certify cancer treatment equipment despite the fact that they are not medical professionals.

During her impeachment hearing at the Senate, the embattled Meru Governor also faced accusations of abuse of office and mistreatment of her Deputy Governor.

Other accusations include wrongful dismissal of employees who continued to earn their monthly salaries, a matter that was cross-examined in the plenary.

When Mwangaza pleaded not guilty to the seven charges leveled against her, the County Assembly of Meru lined up six witnesses to support the prosecution case.

"We made several efforts to be reinstated back to our office because we were sent home unprocedurally," Paul Mwaki Arimi CEO Alcoholic Drinks Control Board-Meru said.

The governor was further accused of overlooking the mandate of the public service board in taking actions to dismiss county employees unprocedurally.

In the documents placed before the senate, Mwangaza is accused of misappropriation of county resources by using her brother, two sisters and  her husband's brother to embezzle county funds.

The Meru Governor, is also accused of nepotism and unethical practices. according to the impeachment proceedings, the Meru governor presented her relatives as a technical team for the purposes of traveling to china to certify cancer treatment equipment while knowing that they are not medical professionals.

The Governor and her deputy also said to be engaged in boardroom fights, the governor in the impeachment papers accused of bullying and vilifying her deputy.

She is said to have excluded her deputy governor from official functions, and posted demeaning messages about him in a Whatsapp group.

The governor's lawyers mounted a spirited cross examination defending her against the allegations.

"The issue of misappropriation of funds. We do not have any report from the auditor general what we have is a complaint presented to the EACC," one of her lawyer's said.

The Governor has lined up four witnesses on Wednesday to defend herself with the Senate expected to take a vote on the same day.