Meru County's Kawira Mwangaza, impeached on Wednesday, becomes the third governor to be removed from office after Kiambu’s Ferdinand Waitittu and Nairobi’s Mike Sonko since devolution.
Her impeachment follows two unsuccessful bids by the Meru County Assembly after Senators voted to send her home based on three charges in which she was found guilty.
“The senators, having voted to uphold the charges against the Meru governor, Governor Kawira Mwangaza ceases to hold office,” ruled Speaker Amason Kingi.
According to Section 33(7) of the County Government Act, a governor ceases to hold office if most of the Senate members uphold any of the impeachment charges.
The Senate found Mwangaza guilty of the first charge—gross violation of the Constitution and other laws—with 26 senators voting in support, 4 against, and 14 abstaining.
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Among the accusations was her illegal revocation of Virginia Kawira Miriti’s appointment as Secretary/CEO of the Meru County Public Service Board, which lacked the required 75% majority vote from the County Assembly.
On the second charge of gross misconduct, 26 senators found her guilty, 4 voted against it, and 14 abstained from voting.
Governor Mwangaza was accused of deliberately misleading the public by falsely claiming that Kes 86 million had been raised through a Paybill number established after the murder of Daniel Muthiani alias Sniper. The actual amount raised was Kes 286,516.
On the third charge of abuse of office, 27 senators supported the impeachment, one opposed, and 14 abstained.
Further, she was accused of irregularly paying emergency call allowances to 161 doctors and medical officers using incorrect rates, resulting in an overpayment of Kes 74.34 million, contrary to the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act.
Following a two-day-long hearing of the impeachment case, the 47 senators took a crucial vote around midnight on Tuesday, deciding on each of the three charges against Governor Mwangaza.
The Senate carefully considered the evidence presented by the Meru County Assembly’s legal team and the defense put forward by Mwangaza’s legal team during the trial, which extended into the late hours for two consecutive days.
The County Assembly first impeached Governor Mwangaza in December 2022, but an 11-member Senate Special Committee later found that none of the charges against her was proven.
In November 2023, the Senate granted her another political lifeline after she pleaded for forgiveness and a second chance, but she was not third-time lucky this week.
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