Senate · Afternoon Sitting

Clerk, do we have quorum? Serjeant-at-Arms, kindly ring the Quorum Bell for 10 minutes. Serjeant-at-Arms, you may stop the bell. We have a quorum now. Order! Hon. Senators, kindly take your seats. Clerk, please, call the first Order.

[(The Clerk-at-the-Table consulted with the Speaker)]

[(The Quorum Bell was rung)]

I am informed that when we took the lunch break, witness Dickson Munene was on the stand and he was being cross-examined by the County Assembly team and that they had 30 minutes to conclude. So, kindly, let the witness take the stand.

failures, mistakes and whatnot. One of the stories I love in the book and it is relevant to the matter before you, is the event it describes and how it changed world history. The world would be different today. There would not be a Republic of Kenya. Perhaps Britain and France would not have emerged as superpowers in the 18th and 19th centuries. Perhaps the United States would never have emerged.…

Cyrus was obsessed with bringing down this little kingdom for no good reason, other than his own vanity and his failure to know when to stop. He pulls a trick. We have seen many tricks on this podium; of a meek, humble and honourable looking Governor. A victim of very many things and whose defense is, “it was not me, it was someone else”. Cyrus’s trick involved throwing a lavish party and setting…

tail and stung the frog. Of course, that poison disables the nervous system and the frog could not swim and they both started drowning. Frog asks, ‘why did you sting? You promised that you would not sting and you are also aware by you stinging, we would both be extinguished.’ Scorpion gave frog a simple answer. I stung because it is in my nature to sting. Mr. Speaker, Sir, we are submitting to yo…

Luckily, today while cross-examining her own legal man Dickson Munene Nkanata, we showed the Senate through Section 30 of the County Government Act that it is immaterial that the governor did not personally commit the acts in question because that section says the governor is irresponsible for those acts. Those are not my words. The section we read says, “The governor shall be accountable.” The wo…

Just to remind you counsel, your time terminates at exactly 8.50 p.m.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. My name is Jacob Ngwele. I am an Advocate of the High Court. I have been given this wondrous responsibility of taking the House through the evidence, which has been submitted before the august House.

The Senate is sitting here pursuant to Article 181 of the Constitution, which provides for removal of a governor from office. The question that arises and which begs this House to look at is what is the standard, which this House should apply on the evidence, which has been submitted by the County Assembly of Meru? My learned Senior, Elisha Ogoya when we started, informed the Senate that this Hou…

You have 30 minutes.

Thank you. Article 181 of the Constitution provides the grounds which the governor can be impeached on. That is gross violation of the Constitution, gross violation of the laws; that is criminal conviction on breach of the national law. We do submit that count number one, that is misappropriation and misuse of county resources, has been substantiated and proved. I will proceed to demonstrate to t…

Governor, which was used to pilferage money from the county treasury in the name of imprest or prepayments. The other clique was a group of officers working under the office of the chief of staff. Collectively, this group of people swindled an amount of Kshs78 million over a period of one financial year. The Integrated Financial Information Systems (IFMIS) data has been produced. If you do a tot…

defence which have been put forward and know that, as we sit here today, Kshs70 million has not been accounted for. Mr. Speaker, Sir, they had the obligation and responsibility of calling in the Chief Officer, Finance. They had the opportunity to call in the CECM Finance. They had at their disposal the entire county treasury to come and explain those amounts of money. They have not and for that r…

I direct the Senate to Section 9(b) of the Public Officers Ethics Act, which states that a state officer shall not bully any person. There is also a call for professionalism within the Leadership and Integrity Act. Professionalisms also means that a state officer shall treat the public and his fellow public officers with courtesy and respect. The aspect of acting through others has also been brou…

bogeyman and was at the centre of attack by the Governor. She had other leaders at a close hair. These are all the elected leaders of Meru County. The 12 of them include the Senator, Women Representative and other elected Members. This was done by falsely accusing them of cartelism. The governor has grouped these leaders into one and refers to them as a cartel. The evidence has been adduced befor…

appointed or does not discharge the functions of chief officer. This evidence has been produced. We submit that that evidence of the appointment has been produced in form of the letter dated 23rd August, 2023. It contains a list of appointments which the Governor made. In that list, you will see the name of Kenneth Riungu being appointed as a chief officer. Meru County Assembly has never vetted t…

is the second time the Governor is still being accused of usurping the powers and functions of the Board. With respect to count four, we do submit that the count has been proved. The last two counts which I am going to move quickly is contempt of court. Evidence has been submitted here how despite the existence of court orders from the Nyeri Employment and Labor Relations Court, the Governor for …

Is the Governor individually liable for that particular violation? She has said all these things were done by

the county secretary. He has mentioned about the provisions of Section 30(3) of the County Governments Act, which will be my last. Section 30 talks about how the governor shall be accountable for the management and use of county resources. The governor cannot run away and say, I was not the one; it was done by this officer; it was done by the county secretary. The law places the accountability in…

The counsel for the Governor, you may now proceed to make your closing statements. You have exactly one hour, starting now.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir and distinguished Senators. For the record, my name is Elisha Ongoya. I will be making the Governors’ final submissions. Before I delve into the substantive part of my submissions and looking at the programme of this House, this may be the last time I am standing here to address on this matter. Allow me, with great humility, to begin by thanking you, Mr. Speaker and th…

Sadly, in that historical text that I have alluded to, that word will have no aura of innocence. I beg to pose the following questions to the hearts, minds and the conscience of these distinguished Senators. Are we, in making a decision this evening, going to dignify the Kibiri movement that we have seen today by impeaching this Governor? Are we going to dignify the acts of Hon. Mpuru Aburi that y…

had given before you to the county assembly. Fortunately, this House is a House of records. Fortunately, you have fantastic rules of procedure that we can make better as we have seen. I will recommend and I hope time will permit, that we relook at the timelines for the impeachment of governors if we have to do absolute justice on filings and arguments of the case. These are reform issues because w…

Whoever entered through the main door had a chance to table evidence. Whoever entered through any other door was denied a right to table evidence. Mr. Mutuma, exercising the persistence of a lawyer that we teach in law schools continuously- “My hope is that you will guide me on how we will lay the evidence that we have, because I am a stranger in this House.” The Speaker answers him- “We are goi…

conversations among yourselves. Ask yourself first, the Governor before you faces a charge of usurping the roles of other agencies in the county and doing the work of other functionaries in the county. The same Governor then faces other charges that require her to take responsibility for the acts and omissions of other functionaries in the county. Mr. Speaker, Sir, how will you reconcile your sen…

You have 35 minutes to go.

Thank you, that is consistent to what my chronometer is telling me. Let me deal with the Assembly’s witnesses one by one. Mr. Paul Arimi Mwaki, the person who came before you denying the obvious fact that his salary was paid pursuant to a court order even when he is told to read the court order saying the salary be paid. He complained that he was in fact paid. That is his grievance, which is “why…

Who do they take Senators for? Distinguished Senators, will you buy into this? Even when confronted with evidence of a formal marriage certificate, he proceeds with his theory that his public domain hypothesis of the marriage of Nephat Kinyua outweighs the marriage certificate. I would have hoped that as people who have a duty to this Senate, the Counsel who presented Evans Mawira would have withd…

Learned Counsel, Dr. Okubasu, exercising that power in the book of Proverbs 17, confronted him in cross-examination. He asked him, if this Senate were to take the liberty and call a Form CR12 from the company’s registry, would he appear as a director of Ivy Health Care? He stuttered and in that moment, spoke about three other companies completely not mentioned in that affidavit. It turned out he w…

say, ‘anyway, we may have grabbed a lot of snakes, but there is one fish, so vote for this fish.’ It is a poor way of dealing with a case of this nature. A case of this nature requires military precision in the charges. Be that as it may, the Governor is accused of doing those things in the form of embezzlement of county funds through the Governor's sisters; Rose Kinya Guantai and Ms. Miriam Guan…

Counsel, you have 15 minutes.

That is okay, thank you. The Governor is accused of withdrawing county funds under the guise of payment for various supplies by the Governor's relatives, yet, they, the Governor's relatives, are ineligible to tender for or supply any goods or services to the county. Counsel for the Assembly, in cross-examining the Governor, completely misled this House. I was saddened because Counsel has a duty o…

you are told, ‘no, go to the affidavit of a police constable and you will get it there;’ a very strange way of identifying a motor vehicle. I am open to learning, but I was not willing to learn that one. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I understand that I have 10 minutes?

It is not there. If you look carefully at those pictures you see there, they are speaking about diplomatic duties. Surely, I was a little embarrassed as the Senate was engaged in that. Bullying, vilification and demeaning other leaders. We have shown what they have done to the Governor. The less I say about it, the better. They actually dared and threw the first stone when they had sinned more. …

I beseech you, Senators, to vote against each of these charges overwhelmingly in the interest of your individual and collective conscience. I rest the Governor’s case.

Sen. Okiya Omtatah, kindly take your seat. Take your seat, Sen. Mumma. Hon. Senators, ladies and gentlemen, following the conclusion of the closing remarks by the Counsel for the County Assembly and that of the Governor, Rule 27 of the Rules of Procedure, while considering the proposed removal of the Governor in Plenary, provide as follows- “That the Senate shall proceed into a camera session to…

[(All the Parties, members of the public and the media withdrew from the Galleries)]

[(The House went into an in-camera session)]

[(End of in-camera session)]

[(All the parties, Members of the public and the media were allowed into the Galleries)]

[(The House resumed at 10.03 p.m.)]

Sen. Abdul Haji.

[[The Speaker (Hon. Kingi) left the Chair] [The Temporary Speaker (Sen. Abdul Haji) in the Chair]]

Order, Hon. Senators. Kindly, take your seats. Next Order!

Senate Majority Leader, proceed.

Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I beg to give Notice of the following Motion- THAT WHEREAS, pursuant to Article 181 of the Constitution and Section 33 of the County Governments Act, on Wednesday, 25th October, 2023, the Meru County Assembly approved a Motion to remove from office, by impeachment, Hon. Kawira Mwangaza, the Governor of Meru County; WHEREAS, by a letter Ref. M/CARES/VOL.IV/43, dated 26…

[[The Temporary Speaker (Sen. Abdul Haji) left the Chair] [The Speaker (Hon. Kingi) resumed the Chair] (Loud consultations)]

Order, hon. Senators. Kindly, take your seats. May the Senate Majority Leader be heard in silence.

AND FURTHER, WHEREAS pursuant to Article 181 of the Constitution, Section 33 of the County Governments Act and Standing Order No.80, the Senate also heard the Honourable Kawira Mwangaza on the grounds for her proposed removal from office by impeachment as the Governor of Meru County; NOW THEREFORE, pursuant to Article 181 of the Constitution, Section 33 of the County Governments Act and Standing …

Clerk, next Order.

Senate Majority Leader, proceed.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I beg to move the following Motion - THAT WHEREAS, pursuant to Article 181 of the Constitution and Section 33 of the County Governments Act, on Wednesday, 25th October, 2023, the Meru County Assembly approved a Motion to remove from office, by impeachment, Honourable Kawira Mwangaza, the Governor of Meru County. WHEREAS, by a letter Ref. M/CARES/VOL.IV/43, dated 26th …

Mr. Speaker, Sir, listening to the conversation has not been an easy duty. We have listened to accusations, counter accusations, further accusation and so on. The enormous duty before this august House this evening is to make a very serious determination. Hon. Members, the 1.5 million citizens of Meru County, occupying a space of 7,000 square kilometers of this Republic of Kenya, have their fate …

properly advised that there are no easy decisions; whether to impeach or not to impeach, each leaves us with a very difficult situation. In fact, in the course of consultations, many Senators have walked up to me and suggested that, Majority Leader, why do we not, as a House, invoke Article 192 of the Constitution and just ask the people of Meru that they have a fresh start; that you send all the…

Asante Bw. Spika. Kwanza

Mjadala huu ambao uko mbele ya Senate ni Mjadala ambao tunatakikana tuusikilize halafu tufanye uamuzi. Ikiwa kuna ushahidi wa kutosha kufurusha kutoka kwa ofisi ama ikiwa hakuna, tuweze kumpatia nafasi ingine aweze kuendelea. Bw. Spika, kama kuna wakati wowote ambao Seneti inatakikana kujitambua na kuweza kuonekana iko kazini na inafanya kazi, ni wakati huu ambao inahusikana na serikali zetu za m…

[(Applause)]

[(Applause)]

Thank you, Hon. Senators. I will now proceed to propose the question.

[(Question proposed)]

Hon. Senators, we may now proceed to debate. What is your point of order, Sen. Cherarkey?

[(Interruption of debate on Motion)]

NOES: Sen. Boy, Kwale County; Sen. Chesang, Trans Nzoia County; Sen. Faki, Mombasa County; Sen. Gataya Mo Fire, Tharaka Nithi County; Sen. Joe Nyutu, Murang’a County; Sen. Kavindu Muthama, Machakos County; Sen. (Dr.) Khalwale, Kakamega County; Sen. Kinyua, Laikipia County; Sen. Kisang, Elgeyo Markwet; Samburu County; Sen. Lomenen, Turkana County; Sen. M. Kajwang’, Homa Bay County; Sen. Maanzo, Mak…

Murgor, West Pokot County; Sen. Mwaruma, Taita Taveta County; Sen. (Dr.) Oburu, Siaya County; Sen. Oketch Gicheru, Migori County; Sen. Okiya Omtatah, Busia County; Sen. Olekina, Narok County; Sen. Omogeni, Nyamira County; Sen. Onyonka, Kisii County; Sen. Osotsi, Vihiga County; Sen. Seki, Kajiado County; Sen. Sifuna, Nairobi City County; Sen. Tabitha Keroche, Nakuru County; Sen. Thang’wa, Kiambu Co…

Murgor, West Pokot County; Sen. Mwaruma, Taita Taveta County; Sen. (Dr.) Oburu, Siaya County; Sen. Oketch Gicheru, Migori County; Sen. Okiya Omtatah, Busia County; Sen. Olekina, Narok County; Sen. Omogeni, Nyamira County; Sen. Onyonka, Kisii County; Sen. Osotsi, Vihiga County; Sen. Seki, Kajiado County; Sen. Sifuna, Nairobi City County; Sen. Tabitha Keroche, Nakuru County; Sen. Thang’wa, Kiambu Co…

Kisumu County; Sen. Wafula, Bungoma County; Sen. Wakili Sigei, Bomet County; Sen. Wamatinga, Nyeri County; and, Sen. Wambua, Kitui County.

Kisumu County; Sen. Wafula, Bungoma County; Sen. Wakili Sigei, Bomet County; Sen. Wamatinga, Nyeri County; and, Sen. Wambua, Kitui County.

Khalwale, Kakamega County; Sen. Kinyua, Laikipia County; Sen. Kisang, Elgeyo Marakwet County; Sen. (Dr.) Lelegwe Ltumbesi, Samburu County; Sen. Lomenen, Turkana County; Sen. M. Kajwang’, Homa Bay County; Sen. Maanzo, Makueni County; Sen. Madzayo, Kilifi County; Sen. Mandago, Uasin Gishu County; Sen. Methu, Nyandarua County; Sen. Mungatana, MGH, Tana River County; Sen. Murgor, West Pokot County; Se…

[(Applause)]

[(Loud consultations)]

[(Laughter)]

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