Kericho Governor Erick Mutai impeached days after mulling dissolution of County
By Arnold Ngure, August 15, 2025Governor Erick Mutai of Kericho has been impeached after a resounding vote in the County Assembly on Friday, August 15, 2025.
Of the 47 members of the County Assembly (MCAs), 33 voted in favour of the resolution to remove him from office, while 14 others voted against the impeachment.
Impeachment threshold
Before the vote, there were contentious discussions at the special session, which was held in the Kericho County Assembly chambers.
The MCAs accuse Mutai of gross violation of the Constitution, abuse of office, and mismanagement of county resources.
The assembly easily surpassed the two-thirds majority needed to remove the governor, with 33 MCAs voting in favour.
During his impeachment trial at the Senate on October 14, 2025, Mutai survived after Senators voted to throw out his case.
Procedural technicality
The decision, a major win for the embattled county chief, hinged on a procedural technicality rather than the substantive allegations of corruption and abuse of office leveled against him.
The impeachment motion, initiated by the Kericho County Assembly, had accused Mutai of gross violation of the Constitution and gross misconduct, among other charges.
The assembly, however, transmitted the resolution to the Senate despite a High Court order stopping the process.
Furthermore, the impeachment vote in the County Assembly was contested. While Speaker Patrick Mutai declared 31 votes sufficient to meet the two-thirds threshold for a successful impeachment, the governor’s legal team, led by Counsel Katwa Kigen, argued that the required number was 32.
The Senate’s decision to uphold a preliminary objection from Governor Mutai’s lawyers brought the proceedings to an abrupt end.
The Senators, in a majority vote, agreed that the County Assembly had failed to meet the constitutional threshold for impeachment. The ruling effectively terminated the hearing, allowing Governor Mutai to remain in office until now that the matter has been revived.
In the decisive vote, 34 senators voted to throw out the motion while 10 voted in favour of proceeding with the quasi-judicial trial of the Mutai.