Mr Martin Wambora. He has been impeached for violating the Public Procurement and Disposal Act 2005 and Regulations 2013, the Public Finance and Management Act and the Constitution. FILE
What you need to know:
Senators found Mr Wambora guilty of violating the Public Procurement and Disposal Act 2005 and Regulations 2013, the Public Finance Management Act 2012, and the Constitution of Kenya. However the Senate did not find proof of charges levelled against Ms Nditi.
The Senate has upheld charges impeaching Embu Governor Martin Wambora but left his deputy Dorothy Nditi off the hook.
Senators found Mr Wambora guilty of violating the Public Procurement and Disposal Act 2005 and Regulations 2013, the Public Finance Management Act 2012, and the Constitution of Kenya. However the Senate did not find proof of charges levelled against Ms Nditi.
Mr Wambora’s ceased to hold office pursuant to section 33(7) of the County Government Act enacted to implement Article 178(3) of the Constitution.
“If a majority of all the members of the Senate vote to uphold any impeachment charge, the governor shall cease to hold office,” section 33(7) of the Act states.
Ms Nditi will take over Mr Wambora’s officer as the new governor of Embu in line with provisions of Article 182 (2) which states that “if a vacancy occurs in the office of county governor, the deputy governor shall assume office as the county governor for the remainder of the term of the county governor.
“The Constitution and the County Governments Act are silent on the deputy governor’s impeachment,” said Kamotho Waiganjo, a commissioner at Commission for the Implementation of the Constitution (CIC).
The commissioner added that the Senate ignored court orders stopping the Committee from proceeding with hearing Ms Nditi’s impeachment.
According to CIC, once the deputy governor assumes office of governor, the office of the deputy governor will remain vacant given the lacuna in the Constitution on replacement of the county deputy governor.
Commenting on the interpretation of article 179 (7) the commissioner said disbanding the executive committee of a county government after a governor is impeached does not apply to deputy governor given that the deputy governor is not appointed with the approval of the county assembly.
Deputy governors came to office as running mates to governors during a General Election as stipulated in the Constitution. Mr Wambora ran alongside Ms Nditi during the March 4 elections and assumed office on March 27, 2013 after being sworn in.
The two were impeached by the Embu county assembly members on January 22 this year on charges of violating the Constitution of Kenya, the Public Procurement and Disposal Act 2005, the Public Finance Act, the County Governments Act and abuse of office.
“All Government Institutions should respect court orders” Mr Waiganjo said while responding to Senate’s refusal to abide by the court orders presented by Governor Wambora and his deputy in the quest to halt the impeachment proceedings.
According to the Constitution and County Government Act, the Senate is required to constitute an 11 member special committee to hear charges against any governor impeached by a county assembly.
The team has strict deadlines to conduct the proceedings and report to the Senate for a resolution within ten days of receipt of the charges by the Senate Speaker.
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