This archive report was first published on 24 June 2020.
On June 9, the Kirinyaga County assembly voted to impeach Governor Anne Waiguru, citing gross violation of the Constitution, the law, and abuse of office.
The decision to impeach the governor was a last resort, according to the ward reps, who claimed she is rude and dictatorial, and has never had time for them.
Supporting the move to impeach the governor, the MCAs portrayed Ms Waiguru as a corrupt individual who manages county public affairs as she pleases.
They accused her of failing to deliver the state-of-the-county address and regularly violating procurement laws by placing her partisan staff in critical positions in the county tender committee.
During a Senate committee hearing on Tuesday, Mutira Ward MCA David Kinyua testified that the governor had coerced the County Public Service Board to recruit her aide, Ms Pauline Kamau, as the director of administration despite lacking the minimum qualification.
He claimed that Ms Kamau was forced on the job despite there being no vacancy, and that the person who was holding the job was more experienced and qualified than the governor's choice.
The MCA also accused the governor of using her influence to have Ms Kamau and Wayne Gichira, her ICT advisor, sit on the county tender committee, where they peddled influence for the purpose of taking care of the governor's interests.
He said the move was illegal because as partisan staff of the governor, the law precludes them from sitting on the committee.
The MCAs also accused the governor of irregularly purchasing a vehicle with a loan from a local bank that was never approved by the assembly.
They claimed that the governor had received Sh10.6 million as an imprest for a foreign trip to the US and Italy, which she never made, and that she had received Sh2.6 million in imprest on June 30, 2019, another Sh943,000 on January 8, 2020, and another Sh1.1 million on February 25 for a trip she never made.
