- The High Court in Milimani ordered that the case be mentioned on September.
- The case is promising a legal duel between the governor, Senate and MCAs.
Image: SCREENGRAB
The High Court’s decision to suspend the Senate’s verdict to impeach Governor Kawira Mwangaza has handed the embattled county boss a lifeline.
The case by Mwangaza promises a protracted legal battle that could further complicate the relationship between the governor and Meru Assembly MCAs.
Deputy Governor Isaac Mutuma will not be sworn in to succeed Mwangaza until the case filed is determined.
The Court stayed the implementation of the Senate resolution pending the hearing and determination of Mwangaza’s case challenging her impeachment.
Interestingly, the order came hours after Senate Speaker Amason Kingi had swiftly gazetted Mwangaza's impeachment, technically rendering the county boss jobless.
While the voting at the Senate went into late Tuesday night, Kingi's gazette notice was dated August 20 and published on August 21.
Lawyers now argue that with the suspension of the Senate impeachment, Mwangaza will continue to serve as Meru governor until the case is determined.
“The High Court has suspended the decision of the Senate to impeach the Governor of Meru. Kawira Mwangaza remains governor,’’ Constitutional lawyer Peter Wamanya wrote on his X account.
Mwangaza’s decision to challenge her ouster at the High Court also opens another chapter for a legal duel between her, the Senate, and the Meru County Assembly that could test the legal and procedural processes.
The Meru Assembly MCAs had on August 8 voted to impeach Mwangaza on three charges, a decision that the Senate upheld during a late-night voting session on Tuesday.
While Mwangaza needed the support of at least 24 senators to survive, at least 26 senators voted to confirm each of the three charges.
On the first charge of gross violation of the Constitution and other laws, the Senate found Mwangaza guilty, with 26 senators voting to confirm the charge, 4 voting against it, and 14 abstaining.
The second charge followed a similar pattern, with 26 senators voting in favour, 2 opposing, and 14 abstaining.
The third charge, abuse of office, saw 27 Senators voting to confirm the charge, 1 voting against it, and 14 abstaining.
“The Senate has resolved to remove from office by impeachment Hon. Kawira Mwangaza, the Governor of Meru County, and the Governor accordingly ceases to hold office,” Speaker Amason Kingi ruled after the voting.
However, the High Court’s decision has sent the Meru MCAs back to the drawing board, with the legal process expected to take some time.
Milimani High Court Judge Justice Bahati Mwamuye directed that the case be mentioned on September 17.
"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," said the judge.
At the same time, this restrained Speaker of the Senate Amason Kingi from publishing in the Kenya Gazette a declaration of a vacancy in the office of the Governor of Meru.
But the order came long after Kingi had gazetted the impeachment, meaning that the Meru seat is technically vacant until the High suspends the gazette notice.
Through his lawyer, Elias Muthuma, Mwangaza told the court that the Senate was denied a chance to debate the motion, and several members abstained from the vote in protest.
Mwangaza argues 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.
"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," she said.
In the past, the High Courts have moved to save impeached governors after the Senate successfully upheld their removal from office.
In February 2022, the Meru High Court overturned the impeachment of then-Wajir Governor Mohamed Abdi Mohamud, terming his removal from office illegal.
Judges Edward Muriithi, Patrick Otieno, and Thripsisa Cherere ruled that there was no public participation during the impeachment at the Wajir County Assembly.
To facilitate a smooth handover, the judges ruled that Mohamud would resume office on March 10, 2022.
Ahmed Mukhtar, who had been sworn into office to succeed Mohamud, was ordered to hand over to the reinstated governor.
Mohamud had been impeached in April 2021.
With the precedent already set, Mwangaza could fight all the way to the Supreme Court to keep her job.
Retired Embu Governor Martin Wambora was also reinstated by the High Court in 2020 after the Senate upheld his impeachment by MCAs.
The High Court nullified a Senate and Embu County Assembly decision to impeach Wambora as governor, saying it was done in breach of a court order.
An aggressive rallying of senators allied to Kenya Kwanza delivered a blistering setback for Mwangaza after they managed to secure the numbers to send her home.
Senators allied to the ruling alliance teamed up to remove Mwangaza from office in a late-night voting session marred with controversy and drama.
Mwangaza now becomes the fifth governor to have been successfully impeached by the Senate since the advent of devolution.
Others are Mike Sonko(Nairobi), Ferdinand Waititu(Kiambu), Martin Wambora(Embu) and Mohamud Abdi(Wajir).
Mohamud and Wambora were, however, reinstated by the courts after their impeachments were annulled.
On Tuesday night, 14 Azimio senators abstained from voting on all the three charges levelled against Mwangaza, ending the governor's political and public service career.