Meru County Assembly has withdrawn an impeachment motion against Governor Kawira Mwangaza to give room for the resolution of accusations levelled against her by the Njuri Ncheke Council of Elders.
The development comes even as reports indicated that the Njuri Ncheke have declined the court request to handle the ouster motion citing a lack of jurisdiction.
Meru High Court on Monday directed that the impeachment motion be handled by the council of elders as an Alternative Dispute Resolution mechanism.
"The Njuri Ncheke Supreme Council of Ameru Elders are hereby ordered to submit their resolution or lack of it on the dispute between the parties herein as directed by the President of the Republic of Kenya not later than three weeks from today," Justice Linus Kassan ordered.
A fresh notice of impeachment was on July 17 tabled in the county assembly against Mwangaza in a third attempt by the Meru MCAs to send the first-term governor packing.
The notice of motion was tabled by Meru County Assembly deputy majority leader Zipporah Kinya.
The House, however, sat and approved the withdrawal of the motion on Tuesday following the court's request that their concerns be handled by the elders.
The motion of withdrawal of the notice was tabled by Kinya herself.
“This Assembly approves the request by the honourable deputy leader of the majority party Hon Zipporah Kinya to withdraw the notice of motion for the removal from office of the governor of Meru county Hon Kawira Mwangaza by impeachment, which notice was issued during the assembly morning sitting of Wednesday, July 17, 2024,” the temporary speaker said.
While issuing his orders, Justice Kassan said he would issue a ruling on the impeachment on August 20, 2024, upon the conclusion of hearings by the Njuri Ncheke.
Kinya differed with the timelines of the resolution of the matter saying it needs to be treated more urgently.
“The time to correct the mess is now honourable speaker and not the 20th of August. We cannot wait for the 20th of August when the people of Meru are crying,” she said.
The MCAs in support of the impeachment have accused Governor Mwangaza of an alleged gross violation of the constitution, an alleged gross violation of various national and county laws and an alleged abuse of office.
While serving the notice of motion of impeachment, Kinya said several reconciliation efforts to resolve the issues raised by the public and members of the county assembly failed to bear fruits.
“Hon Speaker, 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 said.
Mwangaza has survived two previous impeachment attempts: in December 2022 barely three months into office and again on October 26, 2023.
She was saved on both occasions by the Senate which ruled that there was insufficient evidence to warrant approval of the MCAs’ decision to remove her from office.