What next for Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu after impeachment?

Ferdinand Waititu Babayao’s fate as Kiambu County Governor lies in the hands of the Senate and the courts.

The Kiambu County Assembly on Thursday passed a motion to impeach Waititu over alleged gross misconduct and abuse of office for, among other issues, allegedly influencing the award of lucrative tenders to companies associated with his immediate family and close relatives.

Sixty-three out of 92 MCAs voted in support of the motion, which required support from a two-thirds majority (62 MCAs) to sail through.

Only one MCA voted against the motion while 28 were absent, thus, the motion met the required two-thirds majority threshold.

So what next for the embattled Kiambu Governor, who is facing corruption charges over award of irregular tenders worth Ksh.588 million?

Having sailed through the County Assembly, the motion to impeach Waititu will now move to the Senate.

The Senate will set up a special committee to investigate the grounds raised for the impeachment of Waititu or the whole House may also conduct proceedings to impeach him.

At the Senate, only a simple majority of 24 Senators will be required to vote in favour of the motion for it to pass.

It, however, may not be as easy at it sounds to get Governor Waititu out of office going by the impeachment timelines of Embu Governor Martin Wambora.

Governor Wambora has been impeached twice by the county assembly. In the first occasion the Senate went ahead and impeached him but he was saved by the courts and is still in office.

Here is the Timeline of Wambora impeachment attempts

28th Jan 2014- Impeached by the Embu Assembly

14th Feb 2014 – Impeached again by senate (after he challenged assembly’s decision)

16th April 2014- Governor reinstated by the High Court

29th April 2014- Governor is impeached again by the Embu Assembly

13th May 2014 – Impeached again by the assembly

12th Feb 2015 – High Court upholds the Governor’s impeachment

11th Dec 2015- Court of Appeal nullifies decision to impeach Wambora

Wambora then won the Jubilee Party ticket in April 2017 and won his re-election as Governor on August 8, 2017.