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Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu before the Senate at the Parliament Buildings, Nairobi, on January 29, 2020 during the hearing of his impeachment motion. PHOTO | DENNIS ONSONGO | NATION MEDIA GROUP
Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu impeached; Waititu ceases to hold office.:Senate approves Ferdinand Waititu’s impeachment
The Senate has voted to kick out Mr Ferdinand Waititu as Kiambu County governor in a motion that had all the hallmarks of President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto duel.
A total of 38 senators were in the House. At least 28 senators, most of them from opposition Nasa, convicted the governor on all three counts levelled against him by the county assembly and voted to remove him from office.
VIOLATING CONSTITUTION
In the first count of violating the Constitution, 27 senators voted to impeach Mr Waititu while 12 voted against.
However, in the second count, which the governor was accused of violating national laws, 28 senators voted for his ouster while 11 opposed.
The same pattern was repeated on the third count with was one of gross misconduct.
This is the second time the House has voted to remove a governor out of the eight previous impeachments.
It was a dramatic end to the two-day process, eventually won by the President. Perhaps as a sign that the gloves between the President and his deputy are finally off.
DEFENDED WAITITU
All Ruto allies did not hide their feelings in the matter that confirms the deep division in the ruling Jubilee Party.
The lawmakers went out of their way to defend the governor without fear. At one point, Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei declared on the floor of the House that Mr Waititu’s problems were largely authored by what he described as the “deep state of Kiambu”.
“Mr Waititu is being eaten by the politics of Kiambu. It’s the deep state that is behind this,” this he said, echoing lawyer James Orengo assertion in 2016 that regimes eat their own children.
Mr Cherargei claimed that Kiambu County Assembly had acted beyond its powers in impeaching the governor.
It was the same case with Elgeyo Marakwet Senator Kipchumba Murkomen.
CONFUSION
While the duty of moving the motion fell on him by virtue of his position as the Leader of Majority, Mr Murkomen provided a rare moment of confusion.
