Governor Wa Iria faces Senate as court okays impeachment motion

Murang’a Governor Mwangi Wa Iria’s fate now lies with the Senate after the High Court dismissed a petition he had filed seeking to block his impeachment by Members of the County Assembly (MCAs)

The Court before Justice Joseph Onguto said Governor Wa Iria had not demonstrated an arguable case to warrant court intervention at the initial stage.

Justice Onguto added that Wa Iria is still the Governor since the Senate has not yet debated his fate.

The Court found that the Governor was accorded a hearing opportunity by the County Assembly but he declined.

His argument that there was no public participation in his impeachment motion was also found to be untrue after the county assembly presented an advertisement on a local daily that had been put up a week before the motion was debated.

After the High Court ruling, Wa Iria’s lawyer requested the court to stay the ruling implementation for 14 days so that they could file an appeal at the Supreme Court, but the Judge declined the application saying the Governor would not suffer any prejudice if he appears before the Senate.

Wa Iria was impeached by the county assembly for gross misconduct and for allegedly accumulating unsustainable debts to the tune of Ksh 2.8 billion.

34 out of 49 members of the Murang’a County Assembly voted for his removal.

Apart from gross misconduct and accumulating unsustainable debts, Wa Iria’s critics accused him of spending public funds in private commercial entities. They cited the Auditor General’s report which showed the county spent over Ksh 28 million under unclear circumstances.

According to the mover of the motion, Mary Waithera, the Ksh 28 million was spent on Murang’a Investment Co-operative Society –  a dairy project spearheaded by the embattled Governor.

Waithera also accused the County Executive of spending Ksh 247 million on advertising, against the Assembly’s recommendation of Ksh 7 million.

In her address, Waithera cited lack of accountability in the management and use of county resources by incurring unsustainable debt to the tune of Ksh 2.5 billion.  She added that this amount was not disclosed in the Debt Management and Fiscal Paper 2015.

The assembly accused the Governor of borrowing a loan of Ksh 200 million from the Kenya Commercial Bank without a guarantee from National Treasury.

The assembly members said they had nothing personal against the Governor, adding that they have attempted to hold talks with him but their efforts have gone to waste.

The impeachment motion will now be taken to the Senate, and the Upper House of Parliament is then expected to form a committee that will conduct a probe him and present a report to the entire Senate.

The outcome of the report will be debated, and the Governor could be sent packing depending on the Senators’ votes.