As she sat pensively at the Senate following proceedings and waiting for legislators to determine her fate, few thought Meru Governor Kawira Mwangaza would survive.
Perhaps, her mind was full of regretful thoughts about her decision to join the murky world of politics that has seen her leadership capacity questioned more than once.
For her, it was the second time she was praying to be saved by the Senate after being impeached again by the Meru County Assembly.
The First-term Governor faced Seven charges that formed grounds for her impeachment at the county Assembly.
They included misappropriation and misuse of public resources, nepotism, unethical practices and contempt of court.
Other charges were bullying, vilification, and demeaning of other leaders, naming a road after her husband Murega Baichu, contempt of the assembly, and illegal appointment and usurpation of statutory powers.
Lawyers from both the county Assembly side and the governor's wrestled on the floor for the Senate during their two-day plenary in a bid to win the Senators' hearts.
Lawyer Muthomi Thiankolu was the lead counsel for the Meru County Assembly while Elisha Ongoya led the Governor's legal team.
Thiankolu and his legal time strived to prove their case on the seven charges pressed against the Governor.
Ongoya and his team, however, pulled a gender card and fired back with video evidence that drew emotions not only in the Senate but among Kenyans following the proceedings live.
Ostensibly, that evidence exonerated the governor from blame, at least in the eyes of public opinion.
Thiankolu, sensing a gender card being pulled into the case, tried to dismiss the narrative by stating that Mwangaza was not the only female governor in the country arguing her impeachment was merited.
"Just like last time, the governor will appear here on this podium, taking the posture of an innocent and vulnerable victim of toxic masculinity, harmful patriarchy, gender stereotyping and political schemes," he said.
The lawyer, while asking the senate to uphold the governor's impeachment by the MCAs said the county will return to total paralysis if Mwangaza is acquitted.
"She will come to you looking as meek as the lamb, but we have lived through that experience," Thiankolu added.
But, it was the video that was played during the hearing that appeared to have saved Kawira.
In the video, Tigania East MP Mpuru Aburi was seen leading a movement dubbed Kibiri during which he was seen verbally attacking Mwangaza “for not having children with her current husband".
MPuru, would later, deny the content of the video and said it was edited.
Another video depicted Governor Mwangaza's deputy Isaac Mutuma dancing with a group of youths and chanting songs that demeaned the governor.
"Kawira doesn't have a home, oyeee oyeee! She doesn't have a home oyee oyeee, Mutuma kindly strategise eeeyeeii eeyeeii!"
Lawyer EOngoya leveraged the video in arguing the case for governor and told the senators that "by impeaching the Governor, that man whom you saw with young Meru men chanting that the governor doesn't have a home will rise to the office of the governor".
Ongoya posed:
"Is that the desirable outcome that you want out of your decision this evening distinguished senators?"
Moments before the Senators voted, Governor Mwangaza made an emotional final plea to the House to spare her as she asked for forgiveness.
“I am here today pleading with this house, and I want to say it in Swahili 'mateso ni mengi lakini mungu tusaidie',” she pleaded in a low tone.
"If there is a leader in this house, in Meru, and in Kenya that I have wronged, I ask for forgiveness," she added.
As Senators voted from the first charge to the seventh, it was clear that the members had made a decision to save her.
Voting
Charge one- Misappropriation and misuse of public resources: 28 senators voted that the governor was innocent while 19 voted to say she was guilty.
Charge two- Nepotism and unethical practices: 42 voted to save the governor while five senators supported it.
Charge three- Bullying, vilification, and demeaning of other leaders: 44 dismissed the charge while three approved it.
Charge four- Illegal appointment and usurpation of statutory powers: 26 voted against it while 20 voted in support. One Senator did not vote.
Charge five- Contempt of Court: 44 senators vindicated the governor while three senators backed the assembly on the accusation.
Charge six- naming a road after her husband: 43 dismissed the charges while four senators found the governor guilty.
Charge seven-Contempt of the assembly: 36 voted that the governor was innocent while 10 voted to support the Assembly’s claim.
"The result of the division indicates the senate has not upheld any of the charges. Therefore, the Senate has failed to remove from office the governor by impeachment. The governor accordingly continues to hold office," Speaker Amason Kingi said while announcing the official results.
What Senators said
Nakuru senator Tabitha Keroche said the videos played portrayed the Meru men badly.
"However, I can bear witness that in Nakuru County, we have over 5,000 Meru men and they respect women," she noted.
Homabay senator Moses Kajwang on his part averred;
"Let me make it clear. The misogyny that has been demonstrated in some of the videos, the chauvinism and the incitement to tribal hatred, has no place in a modern Kenya".
Nominated senator Tabitha Mutinda said:
"I do not agree in any capacity on the videos that we have seen especially with some of the Meru male leaders. I speak as a married woman in the Meru community. Meru men are respectful. What we have seen is among the few. It is sad and should not have happened".
Senate majority leader Aaron Cheruiyot while moving the motion on her proposed impeachment told the governor to soul search on what next:
“It cannot be like many have observed that all these 59 MCAs are saying in less than one year on two occasions that you are unfit to hold office”.
Nandi senator Samson Cherargei who had supported the impeachment thanked the MCAs for exercising their constitutional right.
“Impeachment is a political process. I am happy gender is not on trial, it is about competency, the ability, and discharge of the work of the governor,” he said.
Kisumu senator Tom Ojienda on his part argued that the threshold question was important.
“It is imperative that the threshold set, and as probably defined in the Sonko case, should be somewhere above doubt and somewhere below the threshold required for criminal trials,” he noted.
And, with the MCAs now having been dealt a huge blow, it remains to be seen what their next course will be.
During her cross-examination, Kawira recognized the need for reconciliation and the importance of addressing the concerns that led to his impeachment in the first place.
She argued that after surviving the first impeachment, she embarked on a journey of redemption, reaching out to the MCAs to mend fences only for some leaders seeking to topple her to divide them.
First impeachment
On December 14, 2022, at least 67 out of 69 MCAs who were present in the House voted to send home Kawira.
She was barely four months in office from the general election where she had defied all odds as a woman to floor the male contenders in the race.
Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mithika Linturi (UDA) and Kiraitu Murungi (DEP) were the top guns in the battle for the seat.
Kawira emerged as the winner garnering 209,158 votes against Linturi’s 183, 859, and Murungi's 110,850.
The county boss who vied on an independent ticket was also among the first leaders to pledge their support for President William Ruto.
The crux of the first impeachment emanated from allegations of nepotism, illegal appointments, unlawful dismissals, misleading campaigns against other leaders, and gross violation of the Constitution.
Legislation
The failed impeachment of Kawira stirred up the governors in their push to have relevant laws amended to give them two-year immunity.
CoG chair Anne Waiguru has urged parliament to fast-track the amendment of the County Government Act, 2012 that provides for procedures and threshold for removal of governors.
Waiguru said the current legislation has a clear path for impeaching a governor.
She noted that they want the threshold to be at par with that of MCAs, MPs, and senators.
“The procedure of removing an MP is quite lengthy and it’s made very tedious and it’s limited in terms of time,” she said.