• Ledama explained that a governor and deputy are elected under one ticket and if one is impeached, all should go.
• This will be the second time Mwangaza has been impeached as last year December, the Senate overturned the process giving her a second chance.
Image: LEDAMA OLEKINA/X
Narok Senator Ledama Olekina has weighed his opinion on the impeachment of governors.
In a statement on Friday, the legislator said that once a Governor is impeached he should be sent home together with his deputy.
"The most difficult thing for me to do is to confirm the impeachment of a Governor!" Ledama said.
He explained that a governor and deputy are elected under one ticket and if one is impeached, all should go.
"Ironically if a Governor is impeached, a deputy takes over yet article 179 of the constitution of Kenya ties them at the hip! To be fair, all of them should be sent home and voters are asked to elect a new government," Ledama said.
Article 182 of the constitution reveals that the office of the Governor can only become vacant if the holder of the office dies, resigns, in writing, addressed to the speaker of the county assembly, or ceases to be eligible to be elected county governor under Article 180(2).
Also, a vacancy may occur when the Governor is convicted of an offence punishable by imprisonment for at least twelve months or is removed from office under this Constitution.
The constitution further states that if a vacancy occurs in the office of county governor, the deputy county governor shall assume office as county governor for the remainder of the term of the county governor.
At the moment, the fourth Senate is set to consider the impeachment of Meru Governor Kawira Mwangaza.
This will be the second time she has been impeached as last year December, the Senate overturned the process giving her a second chance.
As anchored in the county government act, the Senate will vote to have the governor face the whole house or a special committee on her impeachment.
The third Senate was put to the test during heated debates on the impeachment of governors.
The House considered five impeachment motions.
Three of the impeachment processes that were considered by way of an investigation by a Special Committee include the one on former Taita Taveta governor Granton Samboja in 2019, Anne Waiguru (Kirinyaga) in 2020 and Wajir’s Mohamed Abdi Mohamud in 2021.
The impeachment of Kiambu Governor Ferdinand (2020) and his Nairobi counterpart Mike Mbuvi Sonko(2020) were, however, considered in plenary.
The Senate overturned Samboja and Waiguru’s impeachment while Mohamud, Sonko and Waititu were sent home.