Nyamira County Governor Amos Nyaribo has survived a third impeachment attempt, after Senators on Wednesday, voted to uphold objections raised by his legal team.
During the intense proceedings, 38 senators voted in favor of the preliminary objection raised by the Governor of Nyamira County, on the threshold applied for his proposed removal from office by impeachment by the County Assembly, with only four senators opposing it.
“Senators have tonight (Wednesday) voted to uphold a preliminary objection raised by Amos Nyaribo, Governor of Nyamira county, opposing his impeachment trial on grounds that the County Assembly did not meet the required threshold in the vote that approved his impeachment. Consequently, the impeachment proceedings stand terminated, and Nyaribo remains in office,” Senate Speaker Amason Kingi said after the vote.
According to Nyaribo’s counsel, the County Assembly failed to meet the required two thirds threshold to oust the governor, with only 23 out of the 35 participating in the impeachment process.
The legal team further dismissed the November 25, impeachment exercise, stating that it was marred by constitutional breaches. Lawyer Elias Mutuma stated that only 19 members of the County Assembly were physically present during the vote yet the final tally indicated 23 in favor of impeaching the governor.
“Hon. Senators, the record before you will demonstrate that there were 19 members present that voted to impeach the Governor. However, strangely, 23 votes were generated from a total of 19 members who were present in chambers. It’s the joke of the year,” said Elias Mutuma, Governor Nyaribo’s Counsel.
In a counter argument, the counsel representing the Nyamira County Assembly led by Katwa Kigen, defended the process, noting that all procedures were followed in accordance with the law.
Kigen defended the use of proxy voting, insisting that it is a normal legislative process and that proxy letters existed to prove the delegated votes.
“Hon Senators, I pray that right away you take judicial notice of the fact that you, yourself as a Senate Assembly, use proxies. Use of proxies is a normal legislative processes, and therefore the fact that it has been used in Nyamira is not necessarily wrong,” lawyer Kigen stated.
