Senator Wambua casts doubt on fairness of Kericho Governor impeachment process
By Paulette Mboga, August 28, 2025Kitui Senator Enoch Wambua has raised serious concerns over the credibility of the electronic voting system used in the impeachment of Kericho Governor Erick Mutai.
Wambua has questioned how an MCA managed to log in and vote twice within seconds using the same credentials.
Speaking during a Senate session on Thursday, August 28, 2025, Wambua stated that such glaring anomalies raised questions about the integrity of the entire process.
“How is it possible that one MCA could cast two votes at the same time, under the same login credentials? This is a fundamental breach of fairness and raises doubts about whether the system was designed to deliver a just outcome,” the senator noted.
Wambua’s sentiments come as the Senate continues to interrogate the circumstances surrounding the controversial ouster of Governor Mutai. The impeachment, which was conducted through an electronic voting system in the Kericho County Assembly, has since drawn sharp criticism from Mutai’s legal team and some lawmakers.
Data protection breaches
Governor Mutai’s lawyer, Peter Wanyama, also mounted a spirited challenge against the system, arguing that it breached Kenya’s data protection laws. He grilled the County Assembly ICT boss, Alex Korir, over what he termed as “reckless handling” of sensitive information belonging to MCAs.
Wanyama informed the Senate that the impeachment documents presented to the House contained personal identification details, including ID numbers and Integrated Personnel and Payroll Database (IPPD) numbers, which were used as login credentials during the vote.
“The document on pages 12 and 3 contains ID numbers of MCAs. Do you confirm that under data protection, these are confidential credentials?” Wanyama asked Korir.
He further questioned why such confidential data, which should be protected by law, had been converted into voting passwords and usernames.
“For this system you say you created, the ID numbers were passwords to the e-voting. What was the username for an MCA—was it the IPPD number? These IPPD numbers are listed in the documents. Do you confirm that both the ID numbers and IPPDs were accessible to you as the system administrator?”
The Senate is now expected to deliberate further on the matter, weighing the legality and fairness of the process that saw Governor Mutai impeached.