Mungatana reflects on Senate impeachment vote on Kericho Governor Mutai
Tana River Senator Danson Mungatana has reflected on the Senate’s decision to reject the impeachment motion against Kericho Governor Erick Mutai, highlighting the critical role of legal thresholds and procedural integrity in such high-stakes proceedings.
The Senate voted 26 to 16 against the motion, citing unresolved doubts about the validity of the vote conducted by the Kericho County Assembly.
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The verdict, delivered two days after intense deliberations, spared Governor Mutai from removal but ignited national discourse on the legal bar required for impeaching a county chief.
In a Facebook post on Sunday, August 31, 2025, Mungatana emphasised that the process must pass a stringent test.
“I argued that the test as to whether the two-thirds legally compulsory threshold was achieved at the County Assembly must be beyond a reasonable doubt. If there is any iota of doubt, the benefit must go to the accused Governor,” the statement read.
Mutai had been facing several serious accusations from the County Assembly, but senators opted not to proceed to examine those charges after the legitimacy of the impeachment vote itself came into question. Mungatana insisted that unless the process of voting is beyond reproach, then all subsequent actions risk being unlawful.
He drew comparisons to the impeachment of former Meru Governor Kawira Mwangaza, which had a clear-cut vote of 49 to 1.
“The voting by the MCAs must be as clear as the Meru case,” he added.
Central to the controversy were conflicting reports from Information Technology (IT) experts on the integrity of the County Assembly’s electronic voting system.
“In view of the doubt created even by the IT experts who disagreed, the Senate was left with no other option but to reject the temptation to prosecute the other charges,” Mungatana said.
Mungatana also urged that only when a valid threshold is confirmed should the Senate move on to evaluating impeachment charges on merit, applying a standard similar to the United States (US) system of legal evidence and political test.
The legislator said the Senate’s decision not only retains Mutai in office but also sets a precedent reinforcing that due process, transparency, and constitutional thresholds are essential pillars in county leadership accountability.
