Embattled Meru Governor Kawira Mwangaza has been impeached by the county Assembly for the third time in less than two years.

During the impeachment motion before the Meru County Assembly yesterday afternoon, 49 out of the 67 MCAs voted in favour of her removal while 17 attempted to save her . Three absconded.

The MCAs voted to remove Mwangaza from office amid protests from her supporters a move that led to the deployment of a heavy security team around the Assembly premises and its environs for the better part of the day.

The motion tabled by deputy Majority leader Zipporah Kinya who had withdrawn a similar one she had presented on July 17, sailed through without much trouble.

Gross violation

Kinya had filed a notice of the fresh motion on July 31, accusing the governor of gross violation of the constitution, gross misconduct, misuse of funds and abuse of office among others.

Now the governor’s fate lies in the hands  of the Senate which will either save her for a third time or approve her ouster based on the strengths of the evidence adduced by the MCAs.

Kinya withdrew the previous motion a day after the High Court in Meru through Justice Phogon Kassan directed the MCAs to present the ouster motion to the Njuri Ncheke council of elders for arbitration.

The elders however, declined the request to initiate arbitration saying the mandate was above their powers .

The governor who has been walking a tightrope over the two years since she was  elected ,faced a   second impeachment after only serving 10 month  into office when  57 Members of county assembly voted  for her ouster on October 26, 2023.

Impeachment motion

That attempted bid to remove her from the  office came barely less than a  year  after the governor had been saved by the Senate following an impeachment motion passed by the county assembly  on December 30, 2022 after serving for only 64 days in office.

The  second motion was then  tabled by Mitunguu MCA Evans Mawira, who accused her of  grossly violating the Constitution and County Government Act in relation to the use of public resources and management citing gross misappropriation and misuse of county funds .

The motion then listed seven counts which included charges of nepotism, usurpation of roles belonging to the Meru County Public Service Board, contempt of the Assembly, inciting and insulting leaders in public meetings among others .

In the first impeachment the ward representatives made a similar move that hit a snag after the 11-member Senate special committee chaired by Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale dismissed all the 62 allegations levelled against Kawira on grounds that they had not been substantiated.

On December 14, 2022, 67 out of the 69 MCAs that were present in the house  had impeached her on  five grounds including abuse of office.

Bishop Kawira made history on the August 9, 2022 general election when she defeated two political giants, the then Meru Governor Kiraitu Murungi and former Agriculture Cabinet Secretary  Mithika Linturi.

In the race, Linturi became second after attaining 183,858 votes, while Kiraitu managed 814 votes and Kawira  garnered 209,148 votes to secure the seat.