Kericho County is once again the epicentre of a high-stakes political confrontation, as Members of the County Assembly (MCAs) move to remove Governor Erick Mutai from office less than a year after he survived a similar attempt.
The latest motion, tabled by Sigowet Ward MCA Kiprotich Rogony, accuses Dr Mutai of authorizing payments in excess of Ksh 85 million to contractors for work that was either never delivered or abandoned midway, even as the county’s outstanding obligations now total over Ksh 1.1 billion.
This unfolding drama cannot be understood without recalling the events of October last year, when a coalition of 31 out of 47 MCAs voted to impeach the governor on a laundry list of serious charges, among them gross violation of the Constitution, abuse of office, misappropriation, misallocation and illegal drawing of county revenue, and leading an administration that failed to automate revenue collection, thereby allowing widespread pilferage of the county’s own-source funds.
In that first bid, Dr Mutai was also accused of engaging in indecent and non-consensual sexual acts, forcing females into unconsented encounters, mishandling relief funds intended for victims of the June 30, 2023 Lani accident, and leading a mob to seize private land for use as an unapproved dumpsite.
MCAs pressed the motion through the assembly despite a court order halting the process, only to have the Senate later terminate the proceedings on the grounds that the two-thirds majority threshold had not been met.
The current effort reprises many of the same themes while adding fresh details that underscore the persistence of unease over County Hall’s financial stewardship.
Mr Rogony’s motion lays out a narrative in which advances were paid in full, upfront, to firms contracted for market infrastructure upgrades, rural road repairs and water-supply projects, yet audits and field inspections now reveal unfinished sites, substandard materials and in some cases no evidence that any work took place at all.
The MCA further contends that documentation justifying those hefty prepayments was either forged or never presented to the assembly, suggesting collusion between executive officers and favoured suppliers.
Speaker Patrick Mutai’s decision to accept the motion for debate sets in motion a formal process by which the governor will be summoned to the assembly chamber to answer to the charges.
Members must then collectively deliberate the evidence and cast their votes; only if two-thirds of the entire assembly (32 out of 47 MCAs) support removal can Dr Mutai be sent home.
The precise scheduling of these proceedings has not yet been announced but political observers anticipate a prolonged showdown given the governor’s robust support bloc that aligned with him in the last round.
The broader implications of a successful impeachment extend well beyond Kericho’s borders.
As a United Democratic Alliance (UDA) stalwart and former political ally of Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, Dr Mutai’s tenure has been emblematic of how UDA governance at the county level has been both lauded for delivering infrastructure and criticized for operating with a heavy executive hand.
A second removal would mark one of the rare instances in which a governor elected on a ruling-party ticket is forced out by legislators from his own coalition, potentially emboldening other MCAs around the country to challenge their governors on similar grounds.
Moreover, the financial figures at stake underscore the risks that come with devolution’s rapid expansion of county budgets.
With each of the country’s 47 devolved units managing multibillion-shilling portfolios, the absence of robust procurement oversight and timely audit follow-up can leave critical development projects half-built and local taxpayers burdened by unremedied bills.
Kericho’s looming debt of over Ksh 1.1 billion serves as a cautionary tale of what can happen when executive authority goes unchecked and when county leadership fails to account for every shilling spent.
As this latest motion gears up for debate, stakeholders from civil-society watchdogs to business leaders in the tea-growing heartland are watching closely.
For Governor Mutai, the coming weeks will test his political resilience, his capacity to marshal support among MCAs and his ability to present convincing evidence that the contested payments were legitimate.
For the petitioners, the stakes could not be higher as a successful vote would remove him from the office to which he was elected just two years ago, reshaping the county’s political landscape and sending a powerful message about accountability in Kenya’s devolved government.
Whether Erick Mutai retains his seat or becomes the second governor to be unseated in Kericho’s storied political history, the outcome will resonate far beyond the County Assembly chambers, returning once more to the core question of whether local governments can balance the twin demands of rapid development and transparent stewardship of public funds.
