Impeached Meru Governor Kawira Mwangaza to know fate in 10 days. This has been announced by Senate Speaker Hon Amason Kingi.
Here is the full statement from the Speaker:
The impeachment motion against Hon Kawira Mwangaza, Governor of Meru County, brought to the Senate by the County Assembly of Meru will be heard and determined by way of a Plenary. The matter will be heard and determined within 10 days. There are a total of 7 charges against the Governor.
Charge 1: Misappropriation and Misuse of County Resources
The particulars of this allegation are that the Governor –
Embezzled County funds through the Governor’s relatives;
Withdrew County funds through false claims of payment for supplies and services rendered by the Governor’s relatives, despite being ineligible to tender for or supply goods to the County Government;
Paid ‘‘full salaries and benefits’’ for over a year to four high-ranking County officials, despite their not rendering any services to the County; and
Diverted and (mis)used County resources, including funds and motor vehicles, to support the Governor’s private charity (dubbed ‘Okolea’), despite previous promises to keep County operations and ‘Okolea’ operations separate.
Charge 2: Nepotism and Related Unethical Practices
The particulars of this allegation are that the Governor –
Fraudulently represented unqualified relatives as a “technical team” for medical equipment inspection in China;
Employed one, Edwin Mutuma Murangiri a nephew to her husband, in key County positions;
Designated her brother-in-law, Nephat Kinyua, as Director of External Linkages without transparent and competitive recruitment; and
Assigned diplomatic duties with engagements with foreign diplomats and dignitaries to unqualified relatives.
Charge 3: Bullying, vilification and demeaning other leaders
The particulars of this allegation are that the Governor –
Excluded the Deputy Governor from County Executive Committee meetings and other official functions;
Engaged in bullying and posted demeaning messages about the Deputy Governor in WhatsApp groups known as “3rd Government 012” and “County Admin Services” whose membership includes several officers who are subordinate to the Deputy Governor;
Encouraged and condoned insubordination and the making of insulting and demeaning public utterances by subordinate staff against the Deputy Governor and other elected leaders;
Encouraged and condoned the removal of the Deputy Governor by junior officers from official county WhatsApp forums;
Arbitrarily suspended, dismissed, withdrew and frustrated staff of the office of the Deputy Governor;
Illegally, irregularly and fraudulently hounded the Deputy Governor’s staff out of office by purporting to accept their non-existent resignations;
Arbitrarily reduced, suspended and withdrew budgetary facilitation for legitimate operations of the Deputy Governor’s office;
Threatened to inflict bodily harm against the Deputy Governor orally and in WhatsApp chats;
Forcefully broke into and ransacked the Deputy Governor’s office;
Changed the locks to the said office;
Arbitrarily relocated the Deputy Governor’s office;
Arbitrarily withdrew security from the Deputy Governor’s residences;
Persistently made demeaning public utterances against other elected leaders despite the same issue featuring prominently in previous impeachment proceedings;
Made inciteful, insulting and demeaning remarks against other leaders, by falsely accusing them of cartelism at a presidential thanksgiving service held in Laare despite the issue arising in previous impeachment proceedings; and
Encouraged, connived, and condoned her husband’s insulting and demeaning public utterances and musical performances against other elected leaders despite the issue arising in previous impeachment proceedings.
Charge 4: Illegal appointments and usurpation of statutory powers
The particulars of this allegation are that the Governor–
Appointed Kenneth Mwiti Riungu as a Chief Officer without County Assembly approval;
Sent Dr. Ntoiti (CEO of the County Revenue Board), Paul Mwaki (CEO of Liquor Board), Kenneth Kimathi Mbae (Managing Director of Meru Microfinance Corporation) and Joseph Kithure Mberia (CEO, Meru County Water and Sanitation Services) on indefinite compulsory leave with full salary and benefits, in usurpation of the powers of the appointing authorities;
Deployed other persons to perform the functions of those sent on compulsory leave, in breach of a court order;
Appointed unqualified persons as Acting Chief Officers without the requisite competitive recruitment and recommendation from the County Public Service Board;
Recruited traffic marshals without involving the County Public Service Board, disregarding the criteria for establishing county offices;
Usurped the powers of the County Public Service Board by creating traffic marshal offices;
Employed an excessive workforce of over one hundred personal staff in the Governor’s office;
Designated and paid various cleaners as Senior Support Staff, despite already having 16 support staff; and
Appointed four individuals to hold county offices in an acting capacity for more than six months without proper authorization.
Charge 5: Contempt of Court
The particulars of this allegation are that the Governor –
Grossly violated Articles 10 and 73 of the Constitution;
Section 7 of the Leadership and Integrity Act; and
Section 10 of the Public Officers Ethics Act, by engaging in a contumacious stubborn refusal to obey lawful court orders.
Charge 6: Illegally naming a public road after husband
The particulars of this allegation are that the Governor –
Grossly violated Articles 10 and 73 of the Constitution; and
Sections 7 and 11 (1) (c) of the Meru County Honours and Awards Act, 2018, by naming a public road after her husband without following the applicable statutory procedures.
Charge 7: Contempt of the Assembly
The particulars of this allegation are that the Governor –
Refused to honour summons from the County Assembly’s Sectoral Committee on Justice, Legal Affairs and Cohesion to answer questions related to the impeachment Motion;
Directed her Chief of Staff to send a contemptuous letter to the Assembly in response to the summons for her to appear before the Sectoral Committee; and
Through the CECM Finance and the County Secretary, refused to furnish documents to the Assembly on the grounds that an audit process was underway and that the matters raised by the Assembly were sub judice.
Honourable Senators,
In terms of the way forward following the reading of the charges against the Governor, Standing Order 80(1)(b) of the Senate Standing Orders, as read together with Section 33(3)(b) of the County Governments Act, gives the Senate two options on how to proceed with the matter. The Senate may –
by Resolution, appoint a Special Committee comprising eleven of its members to investigate the matter; or
investigate the matter in plenary.
At an appointed time during this sitting, a Notice of Motion for the establishment of a Special Committee shall be given. Should this Motion be carried, the Special Committee will be required, under Section 33(4) of the County Governments Act and Standing Order 80(2) of the Senate, to investigate the matter and to report to the Senate on whether it finds the particulars of the allegations against the Governor to have been substantiated.
In the event that the Motion for the establishment of a Special Committee does not pass, the fall-back position is that the Senate shall proceed to investigate and consider the matter in Plenary. In this event, I will appoint the dates on which the Senate will sit in Plenary to hear and determine the charges against the Governor.
Honourable Senators,
It is noteworthy, and I wish to emphasize to all Honourable Senators, that when we come to the debate on the Motion for the establishment of the Special Committee, debate on the Motion shall be limited to the substance of the Motion, principally, whether or not to establish the Special Committee. It will not be a debate on the substance of the impeachment or its merits, propriety, prudence or even the constitutionality or the legality of the processes that have preceded the submission of this matter to the Senate. It is, therefore, not permissible to deviate to any matters other than the Motion before the Senate.
In the meantime and during the pendency of the Impeachment process in the Senate, I wish to caution Honourable Senators to desist from publicly commenting on the merits or demerits of the impeachment Motion before the Senate. Doing so would amount to anticipation of debate which is an infringement of Standing Order 99. Therefore, it shall be out of order, within the meaning of Standing Order 122, for any Senator to make comments, whether written or spoken, in relation to the conduct of the Governor or the impeachment process, which is outside the confines of the impeachment proceedings as such comments may prejudice the just outcome of the process.
Honourable Senators,
This is the third impeachment hearing in the 13th Parliament, and the second one involving the Governor in question. In undertaking this mandate, the Senate will be sitting as a quasi-judicial body and will conduct investigations into the alleged infractions of the Constitution and the law, and thereafter make its determination on the matter.
As such this is a reminder that the impeachment hearing is not just a procedural formality, but a fundamental process that plays a crucial role in upholding the principles of democracy and good governance. This hearing is one of the most crucial oversight tools and singular roles of the Senate.
