- The residents marched to the county government offices, saying Mwangaza is in the office illegally.
- Police were forced to lob teargas at the demonstrators who had lit fires outside the county officers.
Image: SCREENGRAB
Meru residents have taken to the streets demanding that embattled Governor Kawira Mwangaza vacates from office.
The residents marched to the county government offices, saying Mwangaza is in the office illegally.
Police were forced to lob teargas at the demonstrators who had lit fires outside the county offices.
The residents lamented that the embattled governor had "sneaked" into the offices using a motor vehicle without number plates.
"Leo ni warm up. Kesho asubuhi by 5 am atatupata hapa na tutamzuia hataingia hiyo ofisi," a resident told the media.
This is loosely translated to, "Today is just a warm up. Tomorrow by 5 am we will be here. We will ensure she does not access the office."
The residents said the office of the Governor of Meru County now belongs to Mutuma M'Ethingia, the Deputy Governor.
They maintained that Mwangaza is an impeached governor despite any orders blocking the same.
Mwangaza was impeached by the Meru County Assembly with a total of 40 out of 69 members voting to oust her for the third time since her swearing in.
The senate upheld the impeachment on Tuesday last week.
Mwangaza was removed on grounds of gross violation of the constitution and other laws, gross misconduct, and abuse of office.
Senators voted to send her home based on the three charges in which she was found guilty, becoming the third Governor to be removed from office by impeachment after Kiambu’s Ferdinand Waititu and Nairobi’s Mike Sonko in 2020.
However, the ouster was blocked after Justice Bahati Mwamuye restrained Speaker of the Senate Amason Kingi from publishing in the Kenya Gazette Notice a declaration of a vacancy in the office of the Governor of Meru County.
"I am satisfied that the application raises constitutional, legal, and factual issues that meet the threshold that warrants immediate intervention by this court by way of issuing ex parte interim orders," the judge said.
The judge issued the orders after Mwangaza, through advocate Elias Mutuma argued that the Senate allowed the reintroduction of the same charges as those that the Senate had found to have been unconfirmed in the previous motion of 2023 without interrogating the evidence.
She explained to the court that those issues which the Senate voted on are matters that are still pending determination in court following the first impeachment motion last year.
"There has been an urgency to remove me from the office and install another person, which may be done hurriedly to frustrate me. That's why this application should be heard urgently," Mwangaza said.
This is the third time she had been impeached by the Meru MCAs.