Mwangi wa Iria moves to court to stop his impeachment

Mwangi wa Iria moves to court to stop his impeachment

Embattled Muranga Governor Mwangi Wa Iria has now moved to the High Court to challenge his impeachment by county assembly members on Wednesday.

Before Joseph Ongutu Justice, Wa Iria wants the court to order his reinstatement to head the county after the impeachment move by MCAs.

The county boss was ousted through a motion that saw 34 MCAs vote in support of the motion while 15 others opposed it.

MCAs behind the impeachment motion accuse Wa Iria of abuse of office, misuse of public funds, failure to pay contractors debts worth 2.5 billion shillings, among other claims.

Wa Iria was impeached for gross misconduct and for allegedly accumulating unsustainable debts to the tune of Ksh2.8 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 the governor of spending public funds in private commercial entities. They cited the Auditor General’s report which showed the county spent over Ksh28 million under unclear circumstances.

According to the mover of the motion, Mary Waithera, the Ksh28 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 Ksh247 million on advertising, against the Assembly’s recommendation of Ksh7 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 Ksh200 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.

More than a third of the members supported the motion by appending their signatures on the verification form as required by the law.

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.

The governor had previously said he did not fear the impeachment motion against him.

The MCAs have more than once criticized the executive for failing to control county debts, adding that the executive arm of the county government does not adhere to the set departmental ceilings.

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kenya muranga impeachment Mwangi wa Iria Muranga Governor Mwangi Wa Iria murang'a governor impeached

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