• Kipipiri MCA says 33 support removal, five are against it.
• Kariuki said the reasons the legislators cite for his ouster are incorrect and baseless.
Image: NDICHU WAINAINA
The Nyandarua ICT executive faces impeachment for allegedly trying to employ cronies in ward and village committees and establish decentralised units.
MCAs have accused ICT and Public Management executive Mbataru Kariuki of gross violation of the Constitution, the Public Officers Ethics Act and the County Governments Act.
The core issues are ward and village committees that the county is forming. The legislators accuse Kariuki of picking "political goons" and their competitors in the last elections to serve in these committees without consulting them.
Kariuki calls the accusations baseless.
Kipipiri MCA Paul Ngeche on Wednesday afternoon gave notice of a motion in the House seeking Kariuki's removal for abuse of office.
If it's supported by at least a third of the members, a committee comprising a third of House members will investigate and report within 10 days.
The assembly has 39 MCAs.
Ngeche told the Star 33 are for removal, while five are opposed. They include Njatha Kinyanjui (Engineer), Samuel Mathu (Mirangine) and Andrew Kamau (Gathara) are against the move.
Others against impeachment, Ngeche said, are nominated members Salome Gathoni and Margaret Ndung’u.
MCAs call the alleged recruitment of village and ward staff a move calculated to send them home in 2022. They have pledged to send Kariuki home. "There he will be the chief goon," one lawmaker said.
Speaking to the Star on Thursday morning, Kariuki impeachment caught him by surprise.
"I enjoy a cordial working relationship with all MCAs who are my friends," he said
He said he is formulating ward and village committee guidelines to be approved by the Cabinet. It will be submitted to the assembly together with a draft bill.
He said MCAs should have waited for the draft bill "as it is not possible for them to be consulted at the formulation stage".
“I will defend myself when called upon. I don't have the capacity to employ as that is a prerogative of the Human Resources department and my department lacks a budget for this."
"If I have employed anyone, my accusers should produce copies of appointment letters and confirm the same in the payroll," he said on the phone.
Engineer's Njatha said impeachment is not a solution as it will reignite last year's supremacy wars between the executive and the assembly.
A similar motion whereby MCAs attempted to impeach Finance executive Mary Mugwanja and her Trade counterpart Rose Wamuiya split the House down the middle.
Speaker Wahome Ndegwa almost lost his seat after the MCAs moved to impeach him for declining to recognise new House leaders they elected when they supported the executive.
An MCA told the Star on condition of anonymity that they are driven by a desire to "teach the executive a lesson that they too are capable of executing the move just like their Laikipia and Nakuru counterparts".
“For a long time we have acted as the executive's rubber stamp and it is high time we stamped our own authority," he said.
Edited by R.Wamochie