Abuse of office, irregular expenditures and failure to update ward reps on the status of development projects are among the reasons Wajir Governor Mohamed Abdi Mohamud was impeached.
MCAs on Tuesday voted to send the governor home for what they also said was an attempt to undermine their oversight role.
Thirty-seven MCAs voted in favour of the motion out of the 45 ward representatives in the house.
The county lawmakers accused Abdi of failing to account for public resources.
Tulatula/Elnoor MCA Abdullahi Isaak who moved the motion said that the grounds for impeachment were serious and nothing could have saved him
Speaking outside the chambers, Isaak said MCAs united and voted the governor out for failing the Wajir people.
The governor is accused of failing to provide quarterly expenditure reports to the county assembly as required by the Public Finance Management Act.
He is also accused of failing to submit to the county assembly an annual report on the implementation status of county policies and plans.
The MCAs further accuse the governor of violation of article 176 (1)and 185 of the Constitution of Kenya, by disregarding the county assembly as an arm of the county government.
He is accused of undermining its three cardinal roles of legislation, oversight and representation through systematic non-remittance of the requisition funds for the county assembly’s operations amounting to Sh70,216,902.
The impeachment motion further stated that the county administration exceeded the expenditure limit of 35 per cent of the county government’s total revenue against the law as well as violating the PFMA 2015 by operating 19 bank accounts in local commercial banks and not at the Central Bank of Kenya.
The governor is further accused of failing to account for money allocated to the county through the provision of quarterly expenditure reports to the assembly as required by PFMA act.
Earlier on Tuesday, there was drama as the governor's lawyers led by Ndegwa Mwangi served the assembly with court papers despite earlier efforts by the assembly chamber to block the lawyers from accessing the assembly precincts.
Speaking to the press on Tuesday, Abdi said it was evident that some external forces were driving the agenda to have him out.
He said the MCAs have not given dialogue a chance saying they were being used by politicians in Nairobi.
“The MCAs are being used by some politicians in Nairobi. Some are eyeing the Wajir top seat in 2022. I want to tell those using the county assembly to spread the gospel, that their days are numbered.”
“I have the Wajir people behind me and I will defeat them during the elections. I will do everything through my lawyers to defend my seat,” he said.
Following the successful approval of the motion by the MCAs, the Speaker is now expected to formally write to Senate Speaker Kenneth Lusaka and forward the impeachment motion as well to set the stage for a gruelling battle as the governor fights for survival.
The Senate can decide to either form a committee to probe the allegations or to try the Governor at the plenary.
Edited by Kiilu Damaris
