Kinya, who spoke on Wednesday, July 17 at the Meru County Assembly, accused Mwangaza of abuse of office, gross misappropriation and misuse of county resources.
Meru Governor Kawira Mwangaza has been thrown into impeachment territory for the third time running after Nominated Member of County Assembly (MCA) Zipporah Kinya has tabled an impeachment motion against her.
Kinya, who spoke on Wednesday, July 17 at the Meru County Assembly, accused Mwangaza of abuse of office, gross misappropriation and misuse of county resources.
“The governor of Meru has despite previous impeachment processes and warnings from the Senate persisted in discardable acts singularly and collectively that amount to gross violation of the constitution, gross violation of various national and county laws, and abuse of office,” the nominated MCA stated.
According to Kinya, Mwangaza’s actions have exposed the office of the governor, the deputy governor’s office, the assembly and its leadership, and the people of Meru to national shame and ridicule.
Meru Governor, Kawira Mwangaza during her swearing-in on September 11, 2022. /KAWIRA MWANGAZA
She further disclosed that 1,611 members of the public have presented public petitions against Governor Mwangaza on the various gross violations and instances of abuse of office.
Kinya claimed that Governor Mwangaza’s continued stay in office has undermined effective and efficient service delivery and hurt the interests of the people of Meru County.
“The assembly therefore resolves to impeach the governor of Meru under Article 181 of the Constitution, Section 33 of the County Governments Act and Standing Order No. 65 of the Standing Orders of the Assembly,” Kinya added.
In her motion, the MCA also called out the governor for failing to appoint the chairpersons of various boards including the Meru County Revenue Board and the Meru Microfinance Corporation.
She is also accused of illegally revoking Virginia Miriti’s appointment as the county secretary without a majority vote by the Meru MCAs.
According to Kinya, the county boss allegedly paid emergency call allowances to 161 doctors and medical officers using the wrong rates. This allegedly led to an overpayment of Ksh74.3 million.
Mwangaza is also accused of using manual payroll to pay personnel emoluments amounting to Kshs102.94 million, which is 3.1% of Personnel Emoluments costs, thus contradicting county finance management laws.
The latest move adds to the two times she has faced impeachment since her election as governor in the 2022 August general elections. She survived both of them.
She was first impeached in December 2022 but was saved by the Senate on December 30, 2022. She was again impeached by the Meru MCAs on October 26, 2023, but the senate again threw out the charges fronted against her.
Mwangaza was elected as a Woman representative for Meru County in 2017 after she vied as an independent candidate and similarly in 2022 when she vied for the Governor position.
