Embattled Meru Governor Kawira Mwangaza has expressed joy at the Senate’s decision to probe charges against him through plenary.
The Senators rejected a proposal by the House Business Committee to establish an 11-member committee to hear impeachment charges against Mwangaza.
“Hallelujah,” the Meru County boss said on X after news broke she will appear before all Senators to defend herself.
The Senate on Wednesday held a special sitting to hear the charges made against Mwangaza after 40 out of 69 members of the Meru County Assembly voted to impeach for the third time since her swearing-in.
MCAs accused her of abuse of office, gross misconduct and gross violation of the Constitution among other laws.
The appointment of the 11-member committee occurs within seven days from the day the Senate speaker received the notice of the resolution to impeach the county governor from the County Assembly Speaker.
The 11-member special committee of the Senate is required to investigate the matter and report to the Senate within 10 days.
The committee then reports whether it found proof for the charges the accuser brought against the governor.
The governor has the right to appear and to be represented before the committee during the duration of its investigations.
Further proceedings do not take place if the special committee finds no proof against the allegations facing the governor.
If it finds proof, the Senate proceeds to vote on impeachment charges. The vote only takes place after the assurance that the governor receives a fair hearing.
If a majority of the county delegations in the Senate vote to uphold the impeachment charge, the governor ceases to hold office. If the delegations vote to reject the impeachment charge, the Senate speaker shall notify the speaker of the respective County Assembly.
Any member of the County Assembly can only introduce the same charges before the Assembly after three months from the day the Senate votes against the impeachment charges.
