Council of Governors disparage the impeachment of Wajir Governor

The Council of Governors have disparaged how senators handled the impeachment motion against Wajir Governor Mohamed Mohamud Abdi.

Speaking today, chairman Martin Wambora said the impeachment process was in violation of court orders that barred both the County Assembly and the Senate from debating the impeachment motion.

“The Senate has lowered the threshold for impeachment of a Governor and this largely exposes the Counties to political upheavals,” Wambora said.

He termed the impeachment process to be “political witch hunt” saying it was the reason why the Deputy Governor was hurriedly sworn in.

“The hurried manner within which the swearing in process was undertaken did not take into consideration the provisions of the Assumption of the Office of the Governor Act,” he said.

He said that there will be a full council meeting on Friday to deliberate on the matter.

“The senate has lowered the standard of proof and threshold on impeachment matters thus exposing the Counties to political upheavals, we are going to hold a serious council meeting Friday this week to debate on this matter,” Wambora said.

Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho said impeachments on Governors have become a norm and are done in total disregard of the thresholds that are in place.

Ahmed Mukhtar was sworn in as Wajir Governor yesterday after Senate Speaker Kenneth Lusaka gazetted the impeachment of Mohamud.

Mohamud was impeached following gross violation of the Constitution of Kenya, 2010.

A total of 25 Senators voted in favour of the removal of Mohamud over alleged gross violation of the Constitution.

This came despite Mohamud’s plead for leniency in light of the charges levelled against him and his office.

“I wish to plead with the senators to be sympathetic and not just impeach me just because of one issue. It can be a violation of the Constitution but it is not a gross violation,” he said.