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The process of impeaching a governor could radically change if Senate enacts proposals by the committee that handled the trial of Meru Governor Kawira Mwangaza.

The lawmakers have detailed the gaps in the existing legislation in their report by the Senate select
11-member committee. Mwangaza survived an impeachment after the committee returned a verdict that she had not violated the Constitution but reprimanded her conduct of public affairs.

The gaps if addressed could herald enactment of legislation to streamline the impeachment process.
Senators have listed the period stipulated for the investigation of impeachment allegations, the timeline
for introducing an impeachment motion against a governor and the need for a stand-alone law to guide
the process.

“A 10-day period from the reporting of charges for the investigation or hearing, the analysis of evidence,
decision and report-writing and presentation to the Senate and its deliberations is inadequate,” the Select
committee says in its report.

Godfrey Osotsi (Vihiga) and his Baringo counterpart William Cheptumo called for the enactment of
the impeachment law to address the challenges affecting the process.

“We must define after how long a governor should be impeached after being elected into office. There
are many other challenges including the constitutional threshold of impeaching a governor,” said Osotsi.

“I agree that we need to look at the laws on impeachment. I believe the 10 days that the Committee had to retreat and come up with a report is not enough that is why the team had to stay long during the hearing,” charged Cheptumo.

Hillary Sigei (Bomet) said that a law should be passed to stipulate the time in which a governor can be
available for impeachment.

“I believe that we might have the opportunity to be granted more time to discuss the issue of impeachment. At what point can a governor who has been elected into office be available for impeachment?” he said.

The committee chaired by Senator Boni Khalwale (Kakamega) rejected all the 62 grounds fronted by MCAs in their case against the governor. And now the committee wants Parliament to enact an Impeachment Procedure Bill to guide the process that will be used in subsequent impeachment processes against besieged county bosses.

According to the committee, the Bill will stipulate an adequate timeline for prosecuting the case and a
clear threshold for the impeachment of a governor.

The law provides that a governor can be impeached if they grossly violate the Constitution, abuse of office or gross misconduct, a process that is guided by the County Government Act.