Kitui MCAs have passed a motion to impeach Treasury executive
Mary Nguli.
This is not the first time MCAs have tried to sack Nguli. She previously served as Finance executive in Kiambu county then led by Governor William Kabogo. MCAs unsuccessfully tried to remove her for alleged abuse of office, misconduct and violation of procurement procedures.
On Tuesday, the Kitui county assembly overwhelmingly voted to remove Nguli from office. They accused her of abuse of office, failing to pay pending bills, ignoring procurement procedures and dishonouring the assembly resolutions.
Speaker George Ndotto presided over the vote in which 32 of the 35 MCAs present voted in favour of impeachment. The other two dissented. The motion was tabled last Thursday by Budget and Appropriations committee chairman Boniface Kasina. It was then endorsed by 37 MCAs.
The assembly has 54 members. Before the vote was taken, Minority MCAs allied to Governor Charity Ngilu’s Narc party walked out of the chamber. Deputy Minority leader Alex Nganga led the walkout.
The Tuesday vote paves the way for the formation of a five-member ad-hoc committee of MCAs to investigate the allegations against Nguli. If the committee finds the finance boss at fault, it will recommend that the assembly send her packing.
Nguli is from Makueni — Ngilu’s paternal home county. Her removal would be a huge blow to Governor Ngilu, who has confidence in her.
The impeachment motion was tabled a day after the assembly rejected a supplementary budget presented by Nguli’s office.
The MCAs agreed to take the hard decision to kick out the mini budget, citing failure to align it to the County Fiscal Strategy Paper, the annual development plan and five-year County Integrated Development Plan as dictated by the Constitution.
They also termed it unbalanced and failing to prioritise the peoples’ development agenda. Kasina accused Nguli of running her office in a manner that does not inspire public confidence in her work. Nguli was further criticised for failing to coordinate the implementation of the assembly’s resolutions regarding the County Appropriations Act, 2018.
She also allegedly violated the county procurement procedures and failed to pay pending bills. The MCAs also accused her of misleading the assembly by presenting planning documents that made their legislation inadequate.
The executive failed to develop and present to the assembly and implement within the required time planning and economic policies, the assembly heard.