Nyandarua Speaker James Wahome Ndegwa was impeached on Friday, January 8, 2021 in a session marked by heavy police presence.
Speaker Wahome was removed from office by 30 out of 39 MCAs over gross misconduct.
The move brings to an end a spirited campaign by MCAs allied to him, who have made numerous attempts to save him from removal.
There was heavy police presence at the county assembly in preparation for possible the breakout of violence as had been witnessed in other counties.
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In December 2020, the court had suspended the hearing of his ouster motion, citing that the process did not follow statutory procedures.
After the impeachment, Majority Leader Ednald King'ori stated that they had followed the right procedure as they had a gazette notice allowing a special sitting.
The gazette notice had been obtained by Deputy Speaker Zackary Njeru.
Ndegwa is currently embroiled in a bitter tussle with Nyandarua Governor Francis Kimemia who accused him of arbitrarily shutting County Assembly premises to stonewall the planned impeachment.
Kimemia also accused the Assembly Clerk of colluding with the besieged speaker to defeat the impeachment.
Supporters of the speaker linked the impeachment to his alleged opposition to the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) constitutional review process.
With the constitutional review process requiring the approval of at least 24 counties to proceed to the next level, Ndegwa’s position is seen as crucial in determining the advancement of BBI in county assemblies whose speakers he leads.
Wahome is the chairman of the County Assembly Forum (CAF).
The impeached speaker had been engaged in a protracted battle with Nyandarua MCAs dating back to 2018 when they blocked him from accessing the chambers after impeaching him. He was however reinstated by the courts.
