The Senate has in the past been moved by MCAs to exercise their constitutional powers to consider impeachment cases against a host of governors and their deputies.
In all instances since the advent of devolution in 2013, the Senators have, in some instances, voted to confirm impeachment motions by MCAs.
In other scenarios, the senators have voted in their plenary sittings to save some governors, while in different situations, committees formed have absolved a few governors.
The Constitution provides for two impeachment routes: By plenary, where all 67 senators instigate allegations before voting, and by way of a selection committee of 11 senators.
In the committee stage, a governor is left off the hook if the select senators find no charge substantiated.
In this case, the plenary has no input, and the motion falls after the committee drops the charges.
However, if the committee confirms even one charge, the Senate must vote in plenary to make a determination.
The majority of those tried through a special committee were left off the hook after the lean team exonerated them of the charges levelled by the Assembly.
Of the cases handled by the Senate, only Retired Embu Governor Martin Wambora and ex-Wajir governor Ahmed Mahamud were impeached but reinstated by the courts.
Here is how the Senate decided on nearly a dozen of impeachment cases.
Meru Governor Kawira Mwangaza
Mwangaza will face her moment of truth on Tuesday when the Senate determines an impeachment motion against her.
Mwangaza has been impeached for the third time in two years, after MCAs voted in favour of the ouster motion on August 8.
She will be facing the plenary just like her second impeachment motion, in which Senators absolved her of all seven charges against her.
In her first instance, Mwangaza faced trial through an 11-member panel of the Senate.
She has been saved by the Senate twice, in 2022 and 2023, through an 11-member select committee and by plenary, respectively.
Mwangaza faces three broad charges; gross violation of the constitution, gross misconduct and abuse of office, but with seven specific accusations.
Last week, senators resolved that Mwangaza would face the whole 67 senators to fight for her survival.
They rejected a motion by the House Business Committee that proposed the impeachment motion against Mwangaza be probed by a team of 11 senators.
Former Nairobi governor Mike Sonko
In December 2020, the Senate resolved to uphold an impeachment motion against former Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko.
The impeachment motion against Sonko mirrors that of Meru Governor Kawira Mwangaza since it was also held by the plenary.
For the Sonko case, the senate voted overwhelmingly in favour of four charges brought against the governor.
The charges included gross violations of the constitution, abuse of office, misconduct, and crimes against national law.
Some 27 senators supported the charges against 16 who voted against the motion.
Sonko was first impeached by 88 members of the county assembly on December 3, 2020, when they voted to support the impeachment motion while 2 others voted against the move.
Anne Kananu, who was acting deputy governor, took over as acting governor.
Later in November 2021, Kananu was sworn in at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre to succeed Sonko.
Sonko later launched a legal battle to overturn his impeachment and went all the way to the Supreme Court.
In July 2022, the Supreme Court dismissed Sonko’s appeal challenging his impeachment by the Nairobi County Assembly.
In a joint verdict delivered, the seven-judge bench ruled that the impeachment proceedings against Sonko before the County Assembly and the Senate were properly conducted.
Former Kiambu governor Ferdinand Waititu
Ferdinand Waititu was impeached by the Senate in January 2020 after the House upheld three charges against him.
Waititu’s case was heard and determined by Senators in Plenary.
The Senate voted 29-11 in support of the charge of Gross Violation of the Constitution; County Government Act, the Public Finance Management Act and the Public Procurement and Disposal Act
Some 28 senators supported the Crimes under National law, charge against 11 who opposed it.
On the Abuse of Office/Gross Misconduct charge; 28 Senators voted in support while 11 opposed.
In February 2022, Waititu lost a case in which he had sought to overturn his impeachment.
The High Court dismissed his petitions challenging his impeachment and installation of James Nyoro as governor.
Nyoro had been sworn in to take over from Waitutu in January 2020, days after Waititu was impeached.
This is even as Waititu, through his lawyers, declared his intention to appeal the ruling at the Court of Appeal.
Retired Embu governor Martin Wambora
Wambora became the first governor in Kenya to be impeached not once but twice.
The MCAs complained that little was happening in the region and accused the governor of refusing to convene a leaders’ meeting to discuss development.
However, he successfully challenged the impeachment in court and served the remainder of his first term.
The governor was impeached by the County Assembly a record four times in 2014, where he challenged the decision each time in court and came out victorious.
The governor’s woes started in 2014 when the Embu County Assembly decided to impeach him, accusing him of embezzling Sh32.3 million as well as refusing to suspend Lorna Kariuki.
She was the then County Secretary who was in charge of handling the tenders for the renovation of Moi Stadium and procurement of seeds for distribution to farmers.
Former Kericho governor, Prof Paul Chepkwony
Chepkwony was impeached after being accused of gross violation of the Constitution in 2014.
He, however, survived an impeachment Motion against him after the special Senate committee cleared him of all three charges.
The committee found he had broken the law by irregularly signing agreements and breaching procurement procedures.
However, the House concluded that the acts did not meet the threshold for impeachment of a governor. The House let him off the hook.
The 11-member team faulted Chepkwony for contravening various sections of the supreme law and reprimanded him for ‘poor judgment and lack of professional advice’.
It also found that he violated the Public Procurement and Disposal Act by entering into an agreement without having any budgetary provisions for the item.
Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru
Waiguru was in 2020 sent packing after 23 MCAs passed the motion to impeach her on the grounds of impropriety and abuse of office, among other wrongs.
Waiguru rushed to the High Court to nullify the ouster, arguing the matter was still in court.
She survived after the Senate cleared her to continue running county affairs after the select committee cleared her of the charges.
The committee, which conducted a two-day hearing into abuse of office allegations by Waiguru, concluded the charge of conferring a personal benefit was proved but did not amount to an impeachable offence.
Former Wajir governor Mohamed Abdi Mohamoud
In 2021, the Senate upheld its special committee report and impeached Wajir Governor Mohammed Abdi Mahmoud.
During the Impeachment, 25 Senators voted for Abdi’s removal from Office, on grounds of violating the Constitution.
On April 27, the Wajir County Assembly members ousted him, as 37 members believed he was culpable of dissipating county funds and abusing his office.
Speaker Ibrahim Yakub, who had presided over the sitting, affirmed that two-thirds of the members had passed the motion warranting Governor Abdi’s ouster.
In May 2021, Ahmed Ali Muktar was sworn in as the county’s new chief following the impeachment.
However, Mahamoud would later be reinstated by the courts and complete his term.
Other governors were impeached, but the accusations brought against them were dismissed by former governors Mwangi wa Iria(Murang’a), and Granton Samboja(Taita Taveta).
Machakos Deputy Governor Bernard Kiala and his Siaya counterpart, William Oduol, were also cleared by the Senate after being impeached by MCAs.
Kisii Deputy Governor Robert Monda was successfully impeached by the Senate over allegations of abuse of office.
