Kilifi County Assembly Speaker Teddy Mwambire is facing impeachment after being accused of gross misconduct, incompetence, and flagrant violations of the Constitution.

In a notice of motion tabled before the assembly, Tezo Ward MCA Thomas Chengo urged the House to oust Mwambire, citing breaches of several statutes, including the Political Parties Act, the Leadership and Integrity Act, the County Governments Act, the Public Finance Management (PFM) Act, and the County Assembly Standing Orders.

Chengo accused the speaker of compromising the neutrality of his office by actively participating in ODM grassroots elections in Ganze Sub-county—where Mwambire unsuccessfully contested for the chairmanship position and went on to appeal the outcome.

This, according to Chengo, undermines the impartiality expected of the office of the speaker.

“The speaker has interfered with budget processes and failed to observe procedural fairness,” Chengo claimed.

“I urge this honourable house to resolve to remove Hon. Mwambire from office on the grounds of gross violation of the Constitution and relevant laws, as well as abuse of the assembly’s standing orders.”

Chengo also accused the speaker of incompetence, citing the alleged misapplication of standing orders and interference with the roles of assembly committees.

To back his motion, Chengo tabled a list of 32 MCAs in support—meeting the constitutional threshold of at least one-third of members required to initiate the removal of a speaker.

However, the process has now taken a new twist after the ODM party leadership intervened.

Formal decision

In a letter addressed to all ODM MCAs in the Kilifi County Assembly, ODM Executive Director Oduor Ong’wen directed members not to participate in the impeachment until the party makes a formal decision.

“The party is in receipt of information regarding a planned motion seeking the removal of the Speaker of Kilifi County Assembly.

“This development arises despite a recent fact-finding mission conducted by a delegation appointed by the party leader to investigate the very issues forming the basis of this motion,” Ong’wen wrote.  

“The team has since compiled its report, which is under review by the party leadership,” the letter stated.  

Ong’wen cautioned that moving forward with the motion would undermine the party’s internal mechanisms and render any conclusions moot before the leadership has a chance to address the issues.