Meru County Assembly has voted in favour of the impeachment motion against embattled Governor Kawira Mwangaza for a third time since she clinched power.
49 out of 67 members voted for her ouster.
Through motion tabled by Deputy Majority Leader Zipporah Kinya on August 31, 2024, after withdrawing another one which she presented on August 17, 2024, sailed through as 49 members voted for her removal while 17 voted to retain her.
Now the Meru governor’s fate lies in the hands of the Senate who will either save her for a third time or approve her ouster based on the alleged counts of gross misconduct and abuse of office among other allegations based on her.
Zipporah withdrew the first motion a day after the high court of Meru through Justice Phogon Kassan transferred the ouster motion to Njuri Ncheke council of elders who declined the orders saying the mandates were above their powers.
The governor who has been walking on a tightrope in less than two years since she was elected into power, faced a second impeachment after only serving 10 months in office when 57 Members of the county assembly voted for her ouster on October 26, 2023.
The removal from the office came barely less than a year after the governor was saved by the Senate for a second time after facing another ouster on December 30, 2022, after serving only 64 days in office.
The second motion was then tabled by Mitunguu MCA Evans Mawira, accusing her of grossly violating the Constitution and County Government Act in relation to the use of public resources and management citing gross misappropriation and misuse of county funds.
The motion then listed seven counts which include charges of nepotism, usurpation of roles belonging to the Meru County Public Service Board, contempt of the Assembly, and inciting and insulting leaders in public meetings among others.
In the first impeachment, the ward representatives made a similar move that hit a snag after the Senate led by an 11-member Senate special committee chaired by Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale ruled out the 62 allegations levelled against Kawira were substantiated.
On December 14, 2022, 67 out of 69 MCAs that were present in the house impeached her on five grounds including abuse of office.
Bishop Kawira made history in the August 9, 2022, general election when she floored two political giants, the then Meru Governor Kiraitu Murungi and former Agriculture cabinet secretary Mithika Linturi.
In the race, Linturi came second after attaining 183,858 votes, while Kiraitu managed 814 votes and Kawira garnered 209,148 votes to secure the seat.
However, her dream of making “Meru happy” has been cut short once more after the ouster motion against her sailed through for a third time.
Zipporah claimed the governor has, despite previous impeachment processes and warnings from the Senate, persisted in discreditable acts that singularly and collectively amount to, gross violation of the Constitution, gross violation of various national and county laws and abuse of office.
She highlighted that discreditable acts have exposed the Office of the Governor, the Office of the Deputy Governor, the Assembly and its leadership and the people of Meru County to national shame, scandal, embarrassment, ridicule and disgrace.
Bishop Kawira through her lawyer Elias Mutuma earlier alleged that the ouster motion is flawed and driven by malice from her political opponents who are using the house to advance their political agenda.
Similarly in a move to save Kawira President William Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance (UDA) had intervened in the impeachment attempts and ordered the process to be stopped.
Consequently, the party through former UDA Secretary General Cleophas Malala summoned the mover of the motion to appear at UDA headquarters on July 19, 2024.
