Governor Eric Mutai: Impeachment in Kenya is 99.9% about settling political scores
By Cynthia Lodite, September 23, 2025Kericho County Governor Eric Mutai has expressed concern over the intentions of the impeachment process in Kenya, linking it to settling political scores and not to the basis of service delivery.
The governor made his remarks on Monday, September 22, 2025, during an interview with a local media house, where he recounted how emotional and painful his impeachment was.
Watch: Kingi rules in favour of Governor Mutai in Senate impeachment hearing
According to Governor Mutai, who recently survived a second impeachment, he recalled the moments when he was among the first governors in the Rift Valley region to be impeached by the County Assembly of Kericho last year.
“I was among the first governors in this region to be impeached by the County Assembly of Kericho last year. We were impeached, and we came back from the Senate because the threshold was not met,” Mutai said.
Mutai said that impeachment in Kenya is 99.9% not about service delivery, but rather it is about settling political scores.
“Just a couple of months ago, I was again impeached, which is very emotional and painful. Impeachment in Kenya is 99.9% not about service delivery, but it is about settling political scores,” Mutai stated.
He further criticised persons pushing for impeachments without following the stipulated process, which in turn drains leaders’ service delivery.
“Who is this person who is so motivated that when he wakes up early in the morning, his intention is to make sure that, whether the process is followed or not, this governor must get to the Senate?” Mutai said.
Mutai’s survival
His remarks sparked just three weeks after he walked out of the Senate chambers a free man after a tense and closely watched impeachment battle ended in his favour.
This is after the Senate, by a majority vote, established that the County Assembly failed to meet the required threshold to oust the Kericho governor.
In a majority vote, 26 senators affirmed that the Members of the County Assembly (MCAs) did not reach the two-thirds majority needed to impeach the governor.
Meanwhile, at the time, 16 MCAs voted to confirm that the assembly met the required numbers to pass the motion.
One senator abstained. This marks the second time in less than a year that Governor Mutai has avoided impeachment on procedural grounds.
The first attempt in October 2024 collapsed after his legal team successfully argued that the motion fell short of the two-thirds threshold required by the Constitution—31 votes instead of the minimum 32 – and the Senate invalidated the motion on those technical grounds.
The Senate’s decision followed three days of marathon hearings. The Assembly had levelled multiple charges against the governor, including abuse of office, financial impropriety, illegal dismissals, and allegations of fictitious payments.
During the proceedings, Governor Mutai contested the credibility of the electronic voting system used by the MCAs to pass the impeachment motion.
The MCAs had reported that 33 out of 47 members voted in support of the impeachment.