Nyandarua County Assembly Speaker Ndegwa Wahome was handed a reprieve by the High Court which reinstated him to his position following a chaotic impeachment.
In the ruling, High Court Judge Joel Ngugi also ordered Nyandarua Police Commander to protect Wahome as he executed his duties as Speaker.
"The court is pleased to issue a temporary order of stay of execution of the resolution and/or decision of the purported unlawful impeachment proceedings of 8th January 2021," read part of the court ruling.
A section of Nyandarua MCAs on Friday, January 8 moved to impeach Wahome despite a court ruling that gave the Speaker seven days to respond to the allegations that he was accused of.
The session was nullified as per the court order made by the High Court.
The Speaker had been accused of gross misconduct and abuse of office among other allegations as he moved to court to seek orders to bar the assembly from impeaching him.
Wahome told the court that the MCAs had not followed the right procedure in the impeachment process.
The court agreed with his submissions and has now quashed the impeachment exercise carried out by less than 18 MCAs.
Two advertisements on Wahome's replacement, placed on two local dailies, were also cancelled.
The vacancy advertisements were reportedly published with the assistance of Nyandarua Governor Francis Kimemia's office - raising protests as the county assembly is by law, an independent office from that of the Governor.
Ndegwa is currently embroiled in a bitter tussle with Kimemia who accused him of arbitrarily shutting County Assembly premises to stonewall the planned impeachment.
Supporters of the speaker linked the impeachment to his alleged opposition to the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) constitutional review process.
The move brings to an end a spirited campaign by MCAs allied to him, who have made numerous attempts to save him from removal.
