COG dismisses Wa Iria’s impeachment

The Council of Governors has dismissed the impeachment of Murang’a county governor Mwangi Wa Iria, terming the move null and void.

The council accused individual forces out to derail devolution for sponsoring the impeachment motion.

Addressing the media at a Naivasha hotel, the council’s chair Peter Munya accused Murang’a MCAs of acting against the constitution, by not according the governor an opportunity to defend himself.

Munya said the council was concerned that some members of the County Assembly have continued to hold various county governments hostage.

On Friday, the High Court declined to grant Murang’a governor Mwangi wa Iria orders stopping the County Assembly from forwarding to the Senate their decision approving his removal from the office of County Governor.

Justice Joseph Onguto also declined to stop the Senate from receiving and deliberating the motion.

Justice Onguto stated that Mwangi Wa Iria is still a governor noting that the Senate has not yet made a decision and therefore he will not suffer any prejudice.

Wa Iria stated in his affidavit that he was denied a fair hearing since he was not invited to appear and defend himself before the select committee of the assembly or at the floor of the assembly.

Wa Iria had moved to the High Court to challenge his impeachment by county assembly members on Wednesday.

Before Joseph Ongutu Justice, Wa Iria wanted the court to order his reinstatement to head the county after the impeachment move by MCAs.

The county boss was ousted through a motion that saw 34 MCAs vote in support of the motion while 15 others opposed it.

MCAs behind the impeachment motion accuse Wa Iria of abuse of office, misuse of public funds, failure to pay contractors debts worth 2.5 billion shillings, among other claims.

Wa Iria was impeached for gross misconduct and for allegedly accumulating unsustainable debts to the tune of Ksh2.8 billion.

34 out of 49 members of the Murang’a County Assembly voted for his removal.

Apart from gross misconduct and accumulating unsustainable debts, Wa Iria’s critics accused the governor of spending public funds in private commercial entities. They cited the Auditor General’s report which showed the county spent over Ksh28 million under unclear circumstances.