LET US STREAMLINE LAW ON IMPEACHMENT
BY FWAMBA NC FWAMBA
“Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely”. This adage appears to define the implications of the powers the 2010 Constitution of Kenya gives to various institutions. Members of the County Assemblies (MCA) are on the spot.
The Kenyan electorate is happy whenever leaders rise to fight corruption. The commitment and zeal with which various County Assemblies have stood out to fight corruption is highly commendable. A County Assembly, as the oversight body at the county level, is the most important institution that helps in checking the excesses of county governments.
Without County Assemblies, it is possible that all monies sent to the county governments would be easily swindled by some corrupt county officers who are driven by greed than intention to serve the Kenyan people.
After the second impeachment of Martin Nyaga Wambora by the Embu County Assembly, Kenyans need to ask themselves whether this is the best way of going about in dealing with challenges that come with the implementation of Kenya’s one year old Devolution structure.
If the Embu County fiasco is anything to go by then it will be hard for Devolution to work. Regardless of whether the former Embu Governor is guilty of the accusations levelled against of him or not, it is so apparent that most of the governors, stun by Wambora “impeachment”, are now struggling to please their respective MCAs than working on service delivery to the electorate.
For the Governors, it’s now about survival. Wambora’s debacle has proved that it is easier to get rid of a Governor than any other person holding an elective office.
Kenyan leadership, especially the governors, their deputies and members of Parliament (Senate and the National Assembly) should act urgently. A stakeholder’s conference should be organized to work out on legislation to streamline the role of County Assemblies in their oversight role.
If this is not done, it will be hard for the governors to effectively achieve their promises to the electorate. It is right to say that the Wambora problems have sent all governors in panic mode. The witch-hunt against the members of county executives coated with the spirit of fighting graft is rampant all over the the country.
It would be very progressive if the impeachments and threats to impeach were objective and pegged on real facts. The unfortunate bit is that the impeachments and threats are either political or motivated by disagreements over contracts. The cartels that ran former local authorities have regrouped and have since taken over the county governments in the respective areas.
It is important that legislation is put in place to define the threshold for impeachment of governors or county executive members lest we end up with all the 47 governors being impeached or becoming lame ducks.
If governors are blackmailed by business cartels, it will be near impossible for them to implement policies and laws. If this circus continues, it will be hard for young people to access businesses business at the expense of already established business cartels – now that governors and members of county executives fear political ramifications were they to deny cartels any business.
Currently a number of governors are under siege apparently for failing to work at the whims of certain MCAs. A number of county executives face the same dilemma across the Republic.
No grievous offence has been confirmed against most of these individuals who potentially stand on the brink of being rendered jobless.
While there might be legitimate concerns, the lack of a clear and strict way of going about the impeachment process can subject so many people to irreversible injustices.
Indeed, a law should be in place to ensure that all channels are exploited before a decision to impeach a governor or a member of a county executive committee is reached. In this law, there should be absolute clarity of the circumstances and procedure under which a governor should be impeached.
There must be a framework where it is compulsory for the voters who elected the governor and competent legal experts to play a direct role in determining whether a governor or a member of a county executive should be impeached.
It is hard for people held at ransom to perform work beneficial to ordinary mwananchi. The Commission on the Implementation of the Constitution should also work closely with Parliament on draft this specific law.
The writer is the leader of Kenya Young Voters’ Alliance
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