Senators meet on Wednesday to discuss the method of hearing Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko’s impeachment case and the removal bid has divided lawmakers.
Nairobi MCAs, meantime, expressed confidence that the Senate will uphold their vote to impeach the flamboyant governor.
The Star has established that Sonko’s impeachment has divided the house along the pro- and anti-handshake lines.
These divisions were witnessed during the hearings of cases against Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu, whose impeachment was upheld, and Kirinyata Governor Anne Waiguru, whose impeachment was rejected.
So divided are members that the Senate Business Committee chaired by Speaker Kenneth Lusaka failed to recommend a method of hearing Sonko's case.
“Decision will be made by members on the floor,” a Nairobi senator who sits in the powerful committee that slots business for the House, told the Star.
Pro-handshake forces are said to be keen to send the governor home and want an 11-member committee formed to investigate the charges against him.
The other camp, however, wants the case heard before all the 67 senators for a 'fair and just’ hearing. Sonko has reached out to a number of senators to reject MCAs' impeachment motion.
For the cases of Waitutu and Waiguru’s, the SBC – the Senate’s decision making organ – proposed names for an 11-member committee to hear evidence.
For Waitutu, the plenary rejected the formation of the committee but the House agreed to a committee to hear Waiguru's impeachment case.
During the sitting on Wednesday, the Senate clerk will read out charges against Governor Sonko to the House.
He is accused of abuse of office and violation of the Constitution. At the heart of the impeachment was his refusal to sign the budget allocating the lion's share to Nairobi Metropolitan Services.
Thereafter, the members shall decide whether to appoint an 11-member committee to investigate the charges, or the matter will be heard before the plenary as stipulated in Section 33 of the County Government Act.
Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei said Sonko’s case will not be different from the previous cases in which politics dominated. He is an ally of Deputy President William Ruto.
“Regardless of the charges levelled against the governor, there will be a lot of politics in play. Handshake, BBI, ODM and Kieleweke will be at play. The voting will be informed by the political interests at the moment,” Cherargei said.
While saying the senators will give Sonko a fair hearing, Senator Isaac Maura supported his removal.
“I am extremely excited by the possibility that he [Sonko] can be defeated. I think he should be given a fair hearing,” he said.
Mwaura added, "At the end of the day, we will make a decision that is quasi-judicial and if it is so, it is also quasi-political. Sonko has been a disgrace to Nairobi. The actions by MCAs were not idle. If he was effective, I don’t think if NMS would have been in place.”
Meanwhile, MCAs have expressed confidence the Senate will uphold their impeachment decision, saying their case against Sonko is watertight.
Majority leader Abdi Guyo said their legal team is prepared to face the Senate. It is led by Ndegwa Njiru, who represented the Kirinyaga assembly that impeached Waiguru.
“We are fully prepared and good to go. We are 100 per cent sure the Senate will agree with us and save Nairobians from the inefficient governor,” Guyo said.
Guyo criticised Senator Ledama Olekina who said MCAs defied a court order, reminding him there was no injunction against the county assembly.
“I want to make it very clear that there was no court order stopping us from proceeding to impeach the governor," he said.
It has also emerged that among the 57 MCAs who were in Kwale, more than 25 have signed affidavits stating they voted for Sonko’s impeachment.
Some MCAs had claimed they had been impersonated and their accounts hacked for the pro-impeachment MCAs to get the numbers required.
The list is said to be in custody of the assembly’s legal counsel.
Sonko declined to approve the budget, saying there was no way MCAs could allocate the state-backed Nairobi Metropolitan Services Sh27 billion out of the Sh37.5 billion budget.
(Edited by V. Graham)