Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu on Sunday, December 23 wrote to Senate Speaker Ken Lusaka, castigating his impeachment on December 19., 2019.
In a statement seen by Kenyans.co.ke, Waititu through lawyer Mwangi Ndegwa stated that his ouster was unprocedural.
“From the commencement, the assembly did not have the requisite statutory quorum at any particular time.
“For the reason that the (total) number of the MCAs is 92, thus the statutory quorum required under Section 33 (2) of the County Governments Act to pass such a special motion is 62 members. However, the members' attendance was 57,” read the letter.
The communication further indicated that 35 MCAs were at Lake Bogoria Lodge and they swore affidavits to the effect that they were absent during the proceedings.
“The house could not have attained the 63 votes for yes. Suffice to note that none of the MCAs would have been available to vote at 1430 hours.
“A journey from Lake Baringo to Kiambu would ordinarily take four hours. The speaker unilaterally adjourned the assembly during the voting, yet a motion of this kind ought not to have been adjourned at the voting stage,” added the letter.
The governor further alleged that the county speaker wanted to doctor and falsify the assembly’s records including CCTV footage, Hansard and biometric logs.
“These actions by the speaker are actionable in a court of law and our client has requested us to seek legal redress against the conduct of the speaker, which includes but not limited to raising a complaint with the DCI,” further read the letter.
The motion to impeach Waititu was brought to the floor of the house on December 3 by Ndenderu MCA Solomon Kinuthia who has long been seen to oppose Waititu’s leadership style.
In the submission, the MCA alleged that Waititu broke the law and breached the Public Procurement and Disposal Act by personally influencing the award of tenders to companies associated with his close family members.
In the petition, the governor was also accused of recruiting over 600 casuals unprocedurally by sidelined the County Public Service Board.
On his part, Senate Speaker Ken Lusaka stated that the Kiambu speaker had not yet written to him about Waititu's impeachment.
"I have not yet received any notification from the Kiambu County Assembly speaker regarding the impeachment of Governor Waititu.
"My office will act accordingly once we receive the communication and documents in evidence of the house proceedings on December 19, 2019," Lusaka posted on Twitter.
