Lawyers slug it out as Guyo survives impeachment bid
By Rawlings Otieno, July 9, 2025Besieged Isiolo Governor Abdi Hassan Guyo yesterday survived an impeachment trial process on technicalities.
This is after the Senators voted ….against …..to uphold the preliminary objections raised by Guyo through his legal counsel that convinced the Senators that the County Assembly did not properly seat to impeach the Governor.
In raising a preliminary objection, Guyo’s legal counsel led by former Law Society of Kenya (LSK) President Eric Theuri, Elisha Ongoya and Elias Mutuma urged Senators to take note of the Hansard report, stating that the documents were doctored.
“This is a phantom impeachment. The documents presented by County Assembly has been doctored, cooked and generated outside the Assembly,” claimed Theuri.
Multiple anomalies
According to Theuri, the documents forwarded to the Senate for consideration by the County Assembly was not certified by the Clerk as required by law and also contained multiple anomalies.
“This is a harlot process. It is not a process that is set out under Article 181 of the Constitution. The documents have been forged. If this is left out to stand, then it is possible for a Speaker and a rogue Assembly to sit somewhere and stage a coup,” said Theuri.
Mutuma, while making his case on the preliminary objections, charged that there was an instance where the sittings in the County Assembly began without the Speaker calling the House to order, instead directly starting with the sponsor of the motion.
“There was no communication from the chair, no calling of orders. It is straight away. It went to the withdrawal of a motion. The proposer of the motion Abubakar Godana proposed to withdraw the motion. But who is presiding the House? There is no question put. Who approved the withdrawal? Where is the vote?” posed Mutuma.
Proceedings null
In another preliminary objection, Ongoya reminded the Senators that a High Court sitting in Meru had already declared the impeachment proceedings null and void following a petition filed by the Governor.
“There was a determination by a competent court that the motion is null and void. The Judge made a determination on the debate purportedly that has been brought before this house that it is null and void. The motion brought before you is null and void and has no effect in law,” said Ongoya.
However, Isiolo County Assembly legal representatives led by Paul Nyamodi poked holes in the submissions by the legal counsel for the beleaguered Governor.
Nyamodi told the Senators that the issues brought about by the Governor’s legal counsel are in the motion, adding that impeachment motions are time-bound and should be left to proceed.
“Impeachments are timebound proceedings. If they are not concluded in time, somebody will run to court. There were sittings. We do not believe that the statements submitted are true. They are contested. It is our submission that the proceedings should be left to go on so that we do our cross-examination,” said Nyamodi.
He went on: “The Governor challenges the validity of impeachment by the High Court of Kenya sitting in Meru. The effect of those orders on these proceedings will influence the constitutionality of other arms of government.”
On his part, Eric Muriuki, also representing the County Assembly, urged the House that it should proceed to a full hearing of the impeachment trial, adding that, unlike the Governor, the County Assembly will not have a day in court.
“The house should proceed. The Governor will have the opportunity and have his day in court. The governor cannot freeze the timelines. There will be an irreparable prejudice because there is no chance for the Assembly to come back,” said Muriuki.
While moving a procedural motion, Senate Majority leader Aaron Cheruiyot (Kericho) urged the House to rise above just their individual counties and speak to the issues raised on the impeachment.
Cheruiyot, whose Governor Dr Eric Mutai survived impeachment after the trial failed at the preliminary stages, charged that it was unfortunate that the issues raised in the impeachment had not been addressed.
“An impeachment process should not terminate at the Preliminary Objection (PO) level. I want to plead with you that we go full process. We give justice to the people of Isiolo and then make a decision on the issues that have been presented,” said Cheruiyot.
He went on: “There are serious issues that we need to address. I will be proposing that we should not handle another impeachment without amending our Standing Orders so that an impeachment process does not terminate at the Preliminary Objection level.”
Edwin Sifuna (Nairobi) while supporting the motion to uphold the preliminary objections, called on the House to halt the process of impeachment.
“It will be the darkest day for a lawyer like me in obedience of court orders. The question as to whether there was a sitting on that day has already. I am not convinced that there was no sitting on June 26, 2025,” said Sifuna.
Dan Maanzo (Makueni) called on his colleagues to be fair and to adhere to the constitution and other relevant laws.
While opposing the motion, Mandera Senator Ali Roba sought to persuade the senators to listen to the case to its logical conclusion.
“Justice can only be arrived at if we look at the substance of the case to its logical conclusion instead of terminating it. What we are trying to do is to kill the case even before it started,” he said.
“Justice must be served to all parties. In this case, we have the Isiolo assembly and the governor on the other. …. the process and procedure must be followed,” Murang’a Senator Joe Nyutu said.