Senators want MCAs powers to impeach neutered

Senators now want the threshold on the removal of County Governors raised in order to stop Members of County Assemblies from kicking out the county bosses on frivolous grounds.

The legislators who contributed to the motion cited the case of former Nairobi governor Mike Sonko, saying it was a witch-hunt.

They want tighter laws enacted to stop this from ever being repeated.

Debating the motion on Thursday, a cross section of Senators said there is urgent need to ensure governors are not ejected from office unfairly out of political witch-hunt or by cartels.

Kericho Senator Aaron Cheruiyot called for legislation that would ensure county bosses are not bundled out of office through political machinations and some other mischiefs.

“It was clearly demonstrated here that the threshold for the impeachment of former Governor Sonko was not achieved at the County Assembly of Nairobi yet there are many things that happen in an impeachment exercise,” Senator Cheruiyot said.

“Impeachments have become political processes yet they have very serious constitutional and legal consequences,” Senator Cheruiyot said.

Cheruiyot said the threshold for removal of governors and their deputies and County Executive Committee Members to avoid impeachments on flimsy grounds.

He said it was clearly demonstrated in the Senate that the threshold had not been met in the removal of Sonko, yet the Senators still went ahead to approve the process.

The Senators were debating a bill that seeks to raise the threshold for the impeachment of a governor by raising the quorum in the County Assembly from a third of the Members of the County Assembly to two thirds majority.

“I like the fact that we are raising the threshold. By the time the two thirds of the MCAs is agreeing and concurring that something is wrong with you, then there is a problem somewhere. A third was too low,” Senator Cheruiyot added.

He however criticised piecemeal amendments of the County Governments Act, proposing that the Committee on Devolution should consider coming up with a more comprehensive framework.

The Bill is sponsored by Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei.

Late last year, the Council of Governors (COG) also raised concerns over what it termed as ‘unfair’ impeachment laws targeting heads of the devolved units.

Amidst several impeachment motions against some of their colleagues , including Meru’s Kawira Mwangaza at that time, COG Chair Anne Waiguru voiced concerns, stating that the absence of provisions designed to ‘protect’ Governors from potential witch-hunts during the execution of their duties is hampering the delivery of services to citizens.

Waiguru noted that the process of removing a Member of Parliament (MP), a Senator, or a Member of the County Assembly (MCA) differs significantly from that of Governors and called for the streamlining of the impeachment process of the county chiefs.

“The procedure of removing an MP is very lengthy and very tedious and limited in terms of time. You are told you cannot start the removal of an MP within the first two years from the date of the election and cannot attempt to remove an MP a year before elections. We don’t have such provisions in county governments,” she said.

The COG Chair emphasized the need for County Governors to be treated equally to their counterparts in the National Assembly and County Assemblies in the event of impeachment.

“We do not want a situation where County governors are treated in a lesser manner than MPs, MCAs.” On Thursday while debating the motion, Kitui Senator Enoch Wambua also supported the Bill saying it is long overdue.

“We have seen governors go through anguish and pain of impeachment for reasons other than the provision of the constitution on the removal of governors,” he said.

“To date, I believe there were no grounds for removal of Governor Sonko from office. I believe he was removed from office for other reasons and not for breach of the constitution,” Senator Wambua said.

He said Sonko was bundled out of office for other reasons, and not for breach of the Constitution .

“A very young, robust and man of the people, remaining out in the cold for having been removed from office on flimsy political reasons. We need a watertight impeachment law. We must stop this trend of removing governors from office just because they have differed with their party leaders,” Wambua implored his colleagues.

He regretted that the decision has wasted the former governor dearly so much so that he cannot hold public office.

During the last general election, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Dispute Resolution Committee upheld an earlier decision by the electoral agency to bar Sonko from running for the Mombasa Governor seat.

Then IEBC returning officer Swalaha Yusuf said Sonko did not meet Chapter Six of the Constitution on leadership and integrity following his December 2020 impeachment by the Nairobi City County Assembly members.

The Committee said that the fact that Sonko was impeached by the Senate of Kenya followed by a gazette notice of December 18, 2020, he was disqualified from holding any public office which was one of the grounds for not clearing him to contest in the August general election by IEBC.

Wambua now wants impeachment procedures revised in order to make it harder for MCAs to remove governors unless on compelling grounds.

Senator Wambua asked the Senate Committee on Devolution to take the matter seriously to save the county arm of the executive from more anguish and pain.

“Mr Speaker, a very young leader, very robust and a man of the people cannot hold office because he was impeached for extraneous-reasons,” Senator Wambua observed.

“Let the Committee on Devolution take up this matter and bring a proper bill on the impeachment of a governor,” he observed.

Wambua pushed for a watertight impeachment law to block politicians from using impeachment to settle scores.

Machakos Senator Agnes Kavindu disclosed that the general feeling within the Senate is that Sonko was kicked out of office on political expediency rather than on his performance.

“So many people hold the view that Sonko was removed for no good reason. We should look at the thresholds for removal of governors and make laws that will not be compromised by either the Senate of County Assemblies,” Senator Kavindu stated.

by Barry Silah

@PeopleDailyKe

Senators now want the threshold on the removal of County Governors raised in order to stop Members of County Assemblies from kicking out the county bosses on frivolous grounds.

The legislators who contributed to the motion cited the case of former Nairobi governor Mike Sonko, saying it was a witch-hunt.

They want tighter laws enacted to stop this from ever being repeated.

Debating the motion on Thursday, a cross section of Senators said there is urgent need to ensure governors are not ejected from office unfairly out of political witch-hunt or by cartels.

Kericho Senator Aaron Cheruiyot called for legislation that would ensure county bosses are not bundled out of office through political machinations and some other mischiefs.

“It was clearly demonstrated here that the threshold for the impeachment of former Governor Sonko was not achieved at the County Assembly of Nairobi yet there are many things that happen in an impeachment exercise,” Senator Cheruiyot said.

“Impeachments have become political processes yet they have very serious constitutional and legal consequences,” Senator Cheruiyot said.

Cheruiyot said the threshold for removal of governors and their deputies and County Executive Committee Members to avoid impeachments on flimsy grounds.

He said it was clearly demonstrated in the Senate that the threshold had not been met in the removal of Sonko, yet the Senators still went ahead to approve the process.

The Senators were debating a bill that seeks to raise the threshold for the impeachment of a governor by raising the quorum in the County Assembly from a third of the Members of the County Assembly to two thirds majority.

“I like the fact that we are raising the threshold. By the time the two thirds of the MCAs is agreeing and concurring that something is wrong with you, then there is a problem somewhere. A third was too low,” Senator Cheruiyot added.

He however criticised piecemeal amendments of the County Governments Act, proposing that the Committee on Devolution should consider coming up with a more comprehensive framework.

The Bill is sponsored by Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei.

Late last year, the Council of Governors (COG) also raised concerns over what it termed as ‘unfair’ impeachment laws targeting heads of the devolved units.

Amidst several impeachment motions against some of their colleagues , including Meru’s Kawira Mwangaza at that time, COG Chair Anne Waiguru voiced concerns, stating that the absence of provisions designed to ‘protect’ Governors from potential witch-hunts during the execution of their duties is hampering the delivery of services to citizens.

Waiguru noted that the process of removing a Member of Parliament (MP), a Senator, or a Member of the County Assembly (MCA) differs significantly from that of Governors and called for the streamlining of the impeachment process of the county chiefs.

“The procedure of removing an MP is very lengthy and very tedious and limited in terms of time. You are told you cannot start the removal of an MP within the first two years from the date of the election and cannot attempt to remove an MP a year before elections. We don’t have such provisions in county governments,” she said.

The COG Chair emphasized the need for County Governors to be treated equally to their counterparts in the National Assembly and County Assemblies in the event of impeachment.

“We do not want a situation where County governors are treated in a lesser manner than MPs, MCAs.” On Thursday while debating the motion, Kitui Senator Enoch Wambua also supported the Bill saying it is long overdue.

“We have seen governors go through anguish and pain of impeachment for reasons other than the provision of the constitution on the removal of governors,” he said.

“To date, I believe there were no grounds for removal of Governor Sonko from office. I believe he was removed from office for other reasons and not for breach of the constitution,” Senator Wambua said.

He said Sonko was bundled out of office for other reasons, and not for breach of the Constitution .

“A very young, robust and man of the people, remaining out in the cold for having been removed from office on flimsy political reasons. We need a watertight impeachment law. We must stop this trend of removing governors from office just because they have differed with their party leaders,” Wambua implored his colleagues.

He regretted that the decision has wasted the former governor dearly so much so that he cannot hold public office.

During the last general election, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Dispute Resolution Committee upheld an earlier decision by the electoral agency to bar Sonko from running for the Mombasa Governor seat.

Then IEBC returning officer Swalaha Yusuf said Sonko did not meet Chapter Six of the Constitution on leadership and integrity following his December 2020 impeachment by the Nairobi City County Assembly members.

The Committee said that the fact that Sonko was impeached by the Senate of Kenya followed by a gazette notice of December 18, 2020, he was disqualified from holding any public office which was one of the grounds for not clearing him to contest in the August general election by IEBC.

Wambua now wants impeachment procedures revised in order to make it harder for MCAs to remove governors unless on compelling grounds.

Senator Wambua asked the Senate Committee on Devolution to take the matter seriously to save the county arm of the executive from more anguish and pain.

“Mr Speaker, a very young leader, very robust and a man of the people cannot hold office because he was impeached for extraneous-reasons,” Senator Wambua observed.

“Let the Committee on Devolution take up this matter and bring a proper bill on the impeachment of a governor,” he observed.

Wambua pushed for a watertight impeachment law to block politicians from using impeachment to settle scores.

Machakos Senator Agnes Kavindu disclosed that the general feeling within the Senate is that Sonko was kicked out of office on political expediency rather than on his performance.

“So many people hold the view that Sonko was removed for no good reason. We should look at the thresholds for removal of governors and make laws that will not be compromised by either the Senate of County Assemblies,” Senator Kavindu stated.