Senate to hold special sitting on Wednesday for Mwangaza impeachment motion

Senate Speaker Amason Kingi has convened a special sitting on Wednesday for a hearing of the impeachment motion against embattled Meru Governor Kawira Mwangaza.

Members of the Meru County Assembly last Thursday impeached Mwangaza for the third time, with 49 MCAs voting for her ouster. 

The impeachment bid was moved by Zipporah Kinya, the deputy majority leader, who accuses the county boss of gross violation of the constitution and other laws, gross misconduct, and abuse of office.

Speaker Kingi in a Gazette notice said Wednesday’s special sitting will kick off at 2:30 p.m. at the Senate Chamber at the Parliament buildings in Nairobi.

“The business to be transacted at the sitting shall be the hearing of the charges against Ms. Kawira Mwangaza, the Governor of Meru County. In accordance with Standing Order 33 (5) of the Senate Standing Orders, the business specified in this Notice shall be the only business before the Senate during the special sitting, following which the Senate shall stand adjourned until Tuesday, 3rd September 2024, at 2:30 p.m. in accordance with the Senate calendar,” Kingi said on Tuesday.

During last week’s voting, three Meru MCAs did not vote to remove Governor Mwangaza from office, while 17 others voted against the motion.

It marked the third time Mwangaza, a first-time governor, has been impeached at the county assembly, although there have been five attempts to oust her.

'BLOATED WORKFORCE'

In the latest impeachment bid, Kinya submits that Mwangaza has persisted in “discreditable acts” that violate national and county laws.

“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.

Mwangaza is accused of 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.

She is also faulted for 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

Mwangaza, per the impeachment motion, employed “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, the governor 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.