Meru governor Mwangaza and MCAs clash in closing arguments

The impeachment hearings of Meru governor Kawira Mwangaza witnessed impressive showdowns on the last day of the process.

Both the governor and the Meru County Assembly members put forward their cases as they pleaded with the Special Select Committee to rule in their favour.

Lawyers for the County Assembly told the committee that MCAs had substantiated all the 62 allegations and urged the Khalwale-led committee to recommend the governor's removal from office.

Lawyers Muthomi Thiankolu and Jacob Ngwele argued that there is a political crisis in Meru and the only way to resolve it is through Kawira's removal.

Citing the bulk documents that MCAs submitted to support their case for the governor's removal, the lawyers said they had delivered watertight evidence to prove all the infractions to the law committed by the governor since she was elected as the 3rd governor of Meru.

"Those documents are not compositions of imaginary things that were supposed to keep you busy for nothing," Muthomi told the committee

In his 30-minute submission, Muthomi said the question of the political crisis in the County had not been contested.

"Meru is in a crisis. It's under siege. The common ground is that there is a problem. The church, the Nchuri Ncheke, and even the President have been asked to intervene with little or no success," he said.

Muthomi warned the committee that failing to uphold the impeachment "means the political crisis will persist".

He dismissed the governor's assertion that there is a hidden hand pushing for her removal.

"There is no hidden in the process because the deputy governor who may benefit is her comrade," he said.

He challenged the Committee to consider all the 62 allegations leveled against the governor separately.

"If one of them is substantiated, you have no choice but to send the governor home," the lawyer said.

He warned, letting the governor off the hook will be an incentive for other governors to violate the law in realization that Senate will save them.

In response, the governor's lawyers described the impeachment motion as hot air.

Elias Mutuma said the only thing MCAs had achieved is to construct a "very negative and scary picture of the governor" adding that none of the allegations had been proved to warrant her removal.

He said the MCAs had not come to the committee with clean hands.

"They don't have clean hands in this matter. They are not blameless. They have their own share of the blame because they disrespected the governor and put her in an awkward position," Mutuma submitted.

He said laying out grounds is not sufficient to have the governor removed from office.

"The grounds must be gross. They must be conspicuous and glaring. There has been no demonstration of such gross violation. Even if there was a gross violation, the evidence adduced does not support it," he said.

On claims that the governor had appointed her husband to a public office, Mutuma said the MCAs had not submitted an instrument of appointment to the committee.

There was intention but no action and you cannot punish the governor on intention, he said.

Public hearing of governor Kawira’s proposed removal from office ended in the wee hours of Thursday morning.

It was the second day of the hearings.

In actual fact, it was the eighth day of the 10 days in which the County Governments Act allows the Senate to consider and make a determination on impeachment motions brought to it by MCAs seeking to kick their governors out of office.

The committee retreated on day 9 to consider the evidence adduced and determine whether the MCAs substantiated the particulars of the 62 allegations leveled against the Governor.

One allegation is enough to send the governor home if it is substantiated.

On this day nine, the committee will write a report on its findings which must be tabled in the House by Friday, December 30th, the 10th, and the last day of the process.

The Senate Speaker Amason Kingi has summoned the House for a special sitting on Friday.