-
An MCA seeking to introduce an impeachment motion against the governor shall secure the signatures of at least a third of the members of the assembly.
-
The ward representative shall then write to the clerk who shall confirm before sending the same to the speaker for communication in the assembly.
Image: FILE
Governors are now protected from impeachment within six months of being in office in a new bill.
MCAs have also been blocked from re-introducing an impeachment motion against a governor within 90 days from the initial removal bid.
The County Governments (State Officers’ Removal from Office) Procedure Bill, 2024 provides for a robust legal framework for the removal from office of governor, deputy governor, county executives, county secretary and county assembly speakers.
“This Bill is necessitated by the lack of a comprehensive statutory framework for the removal, from office, of the said four categories of county state officers,” it states.
The proposed law, sponsored by Kiambu Senator Karungu Thangwa, has been introduced in the Senate for first reading.
Currently, the removal of the officers is provided for in the County Governments Act, 2012 but Thangwa says it provides for general provisions.
The Bill provides that no motion for removal of a county governor by impeachment shall be brought before the lapse of six months from the date of assumption of office of the governor.
“A motion by a county assembly for the removal of the county governor by impeachment may only be re-introduced in the county assembly on the expiry of 90 days from the date of a vote by the Senate,” the Bill says.
However, the motion may be introduced in the county assembly if it relates to particulars other than those which formed the subject of previous impeachment proceedings.
Besides impeachment on grounds of gross violation of the Constitution and gross misconduct, a governor shall also be liable for removal on grounds of mental incapacity.
According to the Bill, an MCA seeking to introduce an impeachment motion against the governor shall secure the signatures of at least a third of the members of the assembly.
The ward representative shall then write to the clerk who shall confirm before sending the same to the speaker for communication in the assembly.
The clerk shall publish the impeachment in the local dailies, with a copy of the motion sent to the governor.
“If a motion under subsection is supported by at least two-thirds of all the members of the county assembly, the speaker of the county assembly shall inform the Speaker of the Senate of that resolution within three days,” it states.
In the Senate, the speaker shall verify the impeachment documents.
They shall communicate the same in the House to begin the process of considering the removal.
“If the Senate resolves that the county assembly complied with the procedure, the special committee shall proceed with the impeachment process,” it says.
If a majority of the county delegations of the Senate vote to uphold any impeachment charge—the county governor shall cease to hold office.
The Bill also provides that an MCA can introduce a motion to remove a governor on grounds of physical or mental incapacity.
If the motion is supported by a majority of MCAs, the speaker of the assembly shall write to the Chief Justice to form a tribunal to probe the governor.
The tribunal shall be composed of a chairperson being an advocate of the High Court nominated by the Law Society of Kenya.
Others are three persons qualified to practise medicine under the laws of Kenya nominated by the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council and one person nominated by the Council of Governors.
“The tribunal shall inquire into the county governor’s physical or mental capacity to perform the functions of office and, within thirty days of its appointment, report its finding to the Chief Justice and the speaker of the county assembly," the proposal reads.
"The speaker of the county assembly shall cause the report of the tribunal to be tabled before the county assembly within two days of receiving it.
“The report of the tribunal shall be final and not subject to appeal and if the tribunal reports that the governor is capable of performing the functions of the office, the speaker of the county assembly shall so announce in the county assembly."