Nairobi — Meru Governor Kawira Mwangaza was finally impeached Wednesday, after two unsuccessful bids by the County Assembly.
Senators voted to send her home based on three charges in which she was found guilty, becoming the third Governor to be removed from office by impeachment after Kiambu's Ferdinand Waititu and Nairobi's Mike Sonko in 2020.
"The senators, having voted to uphold the charges against the Meru governor, Governor Kawira Mwangaza ceases to hold office," ruled Speaker Amason Kingi in a vote that went past midnight.
According to Section 33(7) of the County Government Act, a governor ceases to hold office if a majority of the Senate members uphold any of the impeachment charges.
On the first charge--gross violation of the Constitution and other laws--the Senate found Mwangaza guilty, with 26 senators voting in support, 4 against, and 14 abstaining.
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, while 4 voted against the charge. Fourteen senators abstained from voting.
Governor Mwangaza was accused of deliberately misleading the public by falsely claiming that Sh86 million had been raised through a Paybill number established after the murder of Daniel Muthiani alias Sniper. The actual amount raised was Sh286,516.
On the third charge of abuse of office, 27 senators voted in support of the impeachment, one senator opposed, and 14 abstained.
The governor was accused of irregularly paying emergency call allowances to 161 doctors and medical officers using incorrect rates, resulting in an overpayment of Kshs. 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.
In her final submission before the Senate, the embattled governor recounted her efforts to reconcile with the Meru County Assembly and local leaders, including MPs, for the sake of the county's progress.
"I traveled across Meru, apologizing to anyone I may have wronged. At one point, I said sorry 70 times--69 to each MCA and once to the Speaker," she said.
"I started with Njuri Ncheke and amended everything that was not going well. I sat with the MPs and every leader in Meru. There is only one leader whom I did not talk to. The rest, we have sat, talked, and have no issue at all."
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Governor Mwangaza was first impeached by the County Assembly 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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