Senators have voted to send besieged Meru State Governor Kaweela Mwangaza home on the third attempt after voting to uphold all three charges brought against her by the Meru County Assembly.
The Senate was in a state of drama ahead of the vote, with the question now being when, not if, Mwangaza would become the first governor to be impeached after the Aug. 9, 2022 elections.
It took a long time to ascertain the obvious after the divisive bell rang as the clock ticked towards midnight, but the bet was already made as senators, mainly from Azimio, raised their voices in protest, with Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna calling Speaker Amason Kingi a “disgrace”.
And when the voting began, a majority of senators, mostly Kenya Kwanzaa supporters, voted in support of all three charges faced by the first-term county chief.
On the first charge of serious violations of the Constitution and other laws, 26 senators voted in favor and four against, with 14 abstaining.
On the second charge of serious misconduct, 26 voted in favor, two against, with 14 abstentions.
On the third charge, abuse of power, 26 senators voted in favor, one against, and 14 abstained.
Finish your job
The result confirms that the Governor will be removed from office through impeachment by the MCAs, which was passed on August 8, 2024.
“The outcome of the vote indicates that the Senate has upheld all the charges and in accordance with section 181 of the Constitution and section 33 of the County Government Act, the Senate has resolved to remove Governor Kawira Mwangaza by impeachment and he is therefore suspended from office,” Kingi declared.
Mwangaza took to the floor earlier to plead with senators, blaming Meru senator Kathuli Murungi for his predicament.
She told the Senate that she had attempted to strike a truce with the county’s political leaders but was thwarted by the Deputy Senate President.
The governor told senators that he is working to improve relations with the MCAs and that currently, 23 MCAs support him, up from one initially to 10 during the second impeachment motion.
“I am here for various reasons but one is the intimidation and intimidation by leaders at the county level to MCAs and external forces,” Governor Mwangaza said.
“One of the leaders who is trying to stoke discord and create discord in Meru is the deputy speaker of this council. I have tried to contact him for a truce but he has not responded,” she added.
The 50-year-old said she has tried to address all the issues raised in the impeachment so far so that peace can prevail in the county.
The measures include increasing ward fund allocations from Sh5 million to Sh15 million, but ward representatives said that was not enough.
“This financial year, we have given each ward Sh33 million to see if there will be peace in Meru.”
Okorea Program
She added that they were forced to drop the Okorea project due to dissatisfaction among MCAs and political leaders in the county.
“In the interest of unity and bringing people together, I have stopped the charity work I have been doing for the past 15 years,” the governor said.
“I have taken many steps to ensure that we work together, including writing to the Senate Empowerment Committee to look into issues in Meru. I have gone around Meru to say I am sorry if I have wronged anyone. At one point I said sorry 70 times for the 69 MCAs and the county assembly chairpersons,” she added.
