The Senate on Monday terminated the impeachment hearing of Governor Eric Mutai whose motion arrived in the Senate following an impeachment by 31 members of the Kericho Members of County Assembly (MCAs).
Governor Mutai survived the impeachment after 34 senators voted to discontinue the hearing against 10 voted in support. There was zero absentee.
"Honourable Senators, the result for the division is as follows; Ayes are 34, Nays 10 and abstention at zero so the ayes have it," Senate Speaker Amason Kingi announced
"Honourable Senators, the motion having been approved, the hearing proceedings on the proposed removal from office by the impeachment of honourable Dr Erick Kimutai, the Governor of Kericho County, hereby terminates and the senate now stands adjourned."
A record of 34 Senators voted to uphold Mutai’s objection in a delegation vote done electronically.
Governor Mutai had argued the county assembly failed to achieve the two-thirds threshold required by law a matter that was disputed by various Senators.
Senators took to the ballot to determine the objection of the two-thirds threshold raised by the governor where 31 MCAs out of 47 voted in support of the impeachment of Governor Mutai.
Senators chimed in on the two-third threshold, some supporting that 31 MCAs met the rule while others refuting the claim. “The High Court has already pronounced itself on the matter of rounding off a decimal to the nearest whole number in the case of Tana River County,” Senator Enoch Wambua of Kitui posited.
On his part, Counsel Elias Mutuma stated, “It is a scientific fact that 47 MCAs divided by two-thirds is 31.3 MCAs. It is not possible for a human being to be a fraction. What do you want the Governor to prove?”
Counsel Hillary Kiplangat argued, “The Speaker of the County Assembly of Kericho was guided by a decision of the High Court that when rounding off, one round off to the nearest whole number. Two-thirds of the Kericho County Assembly is 31.3 MCAs rounding off to 31 members."
The impeachment motion was brought against the governor on grounds of gross violation of the Constitution and other laws including; misappropriation, misallocation, and illegal drawings of county revenue and county finances and misappropriation and/or abetting misappropriation of publicly raised funds.
Inevitably, the governor was also accused of gross misconduct and gross violation of the provisions of Articles 10, 73, and 75 of the Constitution and sections 29 and 34 of the Leadership and Integrity Act by publicly disparaging, demeaning, and undermining several members of his county including his MCAs.
Governor Mutai joins a list of governors who survived impeachment. Among them are: Mwangi wa Iria, former Governor of Murang’a, Paul Chepkwony, former Governor of Kericho, Granton Samboja, former Governor of Taita Taveta, and the late Nderitu Gachagua of Nyeri.
