A total of 31 members of the Kericho County Assembly (MCAs) voted on Wednesday afternoon to impeach Kericho Governor Eric Mutai, accusing him of gross misconduct and abuse of office, among other issues.
During the session, 16 MCAs who were in support of the embattled governor were absent for the proceedings, which ignored a court order that had temporarily halted the impeachment.
MCAs presented four counts of accusations against Dr Mutai, including gross violation of the constitution, gross violation of national and county laws, abuse of office, and gross misconduct.
The motion, tabled last week by Sigowet Ward MCA Kiprotich Rogony, stated that the governor was involved in illegal appointments, unlawful dismissals, and transfers of staff, adding that he was in gross violation of the Integrity and Leadership Act.
“The governor has been operating with impunity as though he is above the law. On the second day after being sworn into office, the governor led a mob to invade private land owned by Mr Josiah Kiplangat Kogo within Kericho town and tore down the fence,” Rogony said while presenting his motion before the Kericho County Speaker, Dr Patrick Mutai.
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Phillip Rono, the leader of the majority, led a group of MCAs and issued a press statement after the vote to impeach Governor Mutai, alleging that the Kericho County government only collected a paltry Sh 399 million against a projected target of Sh 1.2 billion.
Rono decried the massive leakage of revenue that was not accounted for, saying Kericho was the only county in the country without a digital revenue collection system, having reverted to manual collection after the existing one expired in November last year.
– By Dominic Cheres & Kibe Mburu, KNA
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