Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi is a man walking a tightrope after Members of Parliament threatened to impeach him for snubbing summons by the lawmakers.
Mbadi, together with his Principal Secretary, Chris Kiptoo, had been summoned by the Public Investments Committee on Commercial Affairs and Energy to address the Ksh30 billion debt crisis at the Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC).
MPs accused Mbadi of contempt of Parliament, warning that it could lead to the collection of signatures against the CS.
Committee chairperson and Pokot South MP David Pkosing said Mbadi and Kiptoo have been snubbing meetings called by the Senate and the National Assembly.
Impeachment has become commonplace with governors following disagreements with MCAs. That was before the intriguing impeachment of former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, the first of its kind.
Did you know that both cabinet secretaries and principal secretaries, who are appointed by the president, can be impeached?
The mandate to impeach a CS or PS is held by MPs. The process to oust a CS comprises several steps, but is ultimately signed off by the president.
Article 152 (6) of the Constitution states that a member of the National Assembly, supported by at least one-quarter of all the members of the Assembly, may propose a motion requiring the president to dismiss a CS.
In drafting the motion, an MP is required to collect at least 88 signatures, seek the Speaker’s approval on the motion, and finally give a Notice of the Motion in the House. Following the notice, the motion must be discussed by the House within seven days.
Grounds for the removal of a CS include gross violation of a provision of this Constitution or any other law, where there are serious reasons for believing that the Cabinet Secretary has committed a crime under national or international law, or for gross misconduct.
If at least a third of MPs (117 MPs) support the motion, the assembly shall appoint a select committee comprising eleven of its members to investigate the matter, and the select committee shall, within ten days, report to the assembly whether it finds the allegations against the cabinet secretary to be substantiated.
During this time, the CS has the right to appear and be represented before the select committee during its investigations. If the select committee reports that it finds the allegations unsubstantiated, no further proceedings shall occur.
However, if substantiated, the National Assembly shall allow the Cabinet Secretary to be heard and vote on whether to approve the resolution requiring the dismissal of a CS. The vote is conducted after a debate is concluded within fourteen days of the Committee submitting its report to the National Assembly.
If the majority of MPs (176) support a resolution requiring the President to dismiss the CS, then the Speaker of the National Assembly shall promptly deliver the resolution to the President, and the President shall dismiss the CS.
In Kenya, the closest a CS has ever gotten to impeachment was then Agriculture CS Mithika Linturi. The former CS was spared from a historical ouster after the select Committee formed to investigate the allegations did not find sufficient grounds to substantiate them.
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