The High Court in Bomet has upheld the impeachment of Naymira County Assembly Speaker Enock Okero, putting an end to an eight-month wrangle.
In its decision, the court nullified all the decisions made by Okero and at the same time declared Thaddeus Nyabaro as the new county assembly Speaker.
It further noted that the due legal process had been followed in Okero’s removal as well as in the selection of Nyabaro as his replacement.
Since his impeachment in October 2024, Okero had continued conducting official duties after obtaining orders that prevented him from being ousted from office. However, Nyabaro proceeded to assume office, leaving the county assembly in limbo.
This resulted in Nyamira having dual county assembly sessions with both “Speakers” leading their respective sessions. At one time, Okero was captured leading a county assembly session under a tree with MCAs allied to him.
The spat saw Okero and Nyabaro trade verbal insults with each claiming to be the rightful Speaker of Nyamira county.
On Thursday, October 24, MCAs voted to impeach Okero over claims of gross misconduct while discharging his duties at the helm of the Assembly.
During the voting, 24 MCAs supported the impeachment motion against Okero, while 11 abstained.
Okero’s impeachment followed a motion against him that was submitted at the County Assembly seeking to oust him following accusations of gross misconduct on October 8, last year.
He was then asked to step aside as his deputy took over despite earlier protests that he had staged.
He was then sent on compulsory leave as the Assembly instituted an Adhoc Committee to look into the allegations that he was facing.
Okero’s impeachment came just a month after the MCAs took a vote to impeach the County Governor, Amos Nyaribo. In the motion, a total of 22 MCAs voted to oust him against 12 who voted to save him.
Nyaribo miraculously survived the impeachment with only one vote, after the total votes cast to impeach him failed to reach the minimum threshold of 23.
