Meru Governor Kawira Mwangaza was impeached on Wednesday after two previous unsuccessful attempts by the County Assembly. The Senate voted to remove her from office based on three charges, making her the third governor in Kenya to be ousted through impeachment, following Kiambu’s Ferdinand Waititu and Nairobi’s Mike Sonko in 2020.
“The senators, having voted to uphold the charges against the Meru governor, Governor Kawira Mwangaza ceases to hold office,” declared Senate Speaker Amason Kingi, following a vote that extended past midnight.
According to Section 33(7) of the County Government Act, a governor is removed from office if most Senate members uphold any of the impeachment charges.
On the first charge—a gross violation of the Constitution and other laws—the Senate found Mwangaza guilty, with 26 senators supporting the charge, 4 opposing, and 14 abstaining. One of the key accusations was her illegal revocation of Virginia Kawira Miriti’s appointment as Secretary/CEO of the Meru County Public Service Board, which lacked the required 75% majority vote from the County Assembly.
The second charge, gross misconduct, also saw 26 senators vote in favor of her impeachment, while 4 voted against it, and 14 abstained. Mwangaza was accused of misleading the public by falsely claiming that Sh86 million had been raised through a Paybill number following the murder of Daniel Muthiani alias Sniper when the actual amount was only Sh286,516.
On the third charge, abuse of office, 27 senators supported the impeachment, 1 senator opposed it, and 14 abstained. The governor was accused of irregularly paying emergency call allowances to 161 doctors and medical officers using incorrect rates, leading to an overpayment of Kshs—74.34 million, in violation of the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act.
After a two-day hearing of the impeachment case, the 47 senators took a critical vote around midnight on Tuesday, deliberating on each of the three charges against Governor Mwangaza. The Senate thoroughly reviewed the evidence presented by the Meru County Assembly’s legal team and the defense arguments from Mwangaza’s legal team during the trial, which extended late into the night for two consecutive days.
In her final submission to the Senate, the embattled governor recounted her efforts to mend relations with the Meru County Assembly and local leaders, including MPs, in the interest of the county’s progress.
“I traveled across Meru, apologizing to anyone I may have wronged. At one point, I said sorry 70 times—69 to each MCA and once to the Speaker,” she stated. “I started with Njuri Ncheke and resolved everything that was not going well. I met with the MPs and every leader in Meru. There is only one leader whom I did not speak to. The rest, we have sat, talked, and have no issues at all.”
Governor Mwangaza was first impeached by the County Assembly in December 2022, but an 11-member Senate Special Committee later found that none of the charges against her was proven. In November 2023, the Senate gave her another chance after she pleaded for forgiveness, but this week, her luck ran out.
