The Senate on Tuesday evening voted to save Isiolo Governor Abdi Guyo from impeachment, bringing an end to a heated and protracted debate that gripped the chambers for hours.
The session began with Senate Speaker Amason Kingi suspending the House for 30 minutes to allow for the circulation of a Supplementary Order Paper to all Senators, ensuring they could make a fair and informed decision on the matter.
At the heart of the controversy was confusion over whether the Isiolo County Assembly had legitimately held a sitting on June 26 to impeach the governor. The Assembly initially claimed to have convened and passed the motion, but could not provide Hansard records to support this claim.
In a surprising turn, the County Assembly later admitted that while a sitting did take place, the official Hansard records were destroyed in the chaos and fracas that broke out during the impeachment proceedings.
During the heated debate, senators argued that the impeachment motion forwarded by the County Assembly was a sham, null and void, and of no legal consequence to warrant admissibility, interrogation, or any other action of the Senate.
Governor Guyo had been accused by Members of the County Assembly (MCAs) of violating the Constitution, abusing his office, and engaging in gross misconduct.
In his defence, the embattled county boss said the ward representatives had disregarded conservatory orders issued by the High Court in Meru.
The Governor also objected to the proceedings in the Assembly that led to the impeachment, arguing that they had “salient gaps” which rendered the process a nullity.
However, the Senate did not proceed to a full trial, instead opting to determine the matter based on preliminary objections raised by the Governor's legal team.
The legal team argued that the impeachment motion presented by the MCAs failed to meet the legal threshold as required under Article 181 of the Constitution and Section 33 of the County Governments Act. They urged the Senate to uphold the objection and dismiss the impeachment as procedurally flawed.
After deliberations, a total of 31 Senators voted in favour of dropping the case against Governor Guyo, while 12 supported having the matter proceed to a full trial. No Senator abstained from the vote.
The outcome means Governor Guyo will continue serving as the head of Isiolo County, although questions remain about the conduct of the County Assembly and the legitimacy of the impeachment process it attempted to pursue.
