Kericho Governor Erick Mutai during his impeachment trial on August 27, 2025/SENATEKericho Governor Erick Mutai on Wednesday mounted a spirited defense before the Senate, dismissing his impeachment by the county assembly as a politically driven conspiracy aimed at removing him from office for personal gain.
In his address to the House during the impeachment trial, Mutai said the charges against him were not only faulty but also maliciously timed.
He claimed that key reports tabled as grounds for his ouster were only presented to him after the impeachment motion had already been filed.
“With a lot of humility, I wish to state before this honorable House that the report on the fictitious payments was handed to me by the county assembly after my impeachment had already been tabled, and they asked me to act on it,” Mutai said.
“How then was I expected to act on it when the motion was already before the House?”
He accused the Kericho County Assembly leadership of deliberately undermining due process, citing the use of disputed ad hoc reports on the National Agricultural Value Chain Development Project (NAVCDP) programme, the Financing Locally-Led Climate Action (FLLoCCA) project, and alleged fictitious payments.
Mutai further claimed that in the Londiani disaster funds inquiry, the assembly unfairly sought to pin responsibility on him despite the matter having been handled by officers who have since left office and a court ruling affirming that no funds were lost.
The governor alleged that his impeachment was motivated by political expediency, pointing an accusing finger at the county assembly speaker, whom he claimed harbors ambitions to succeed him.
“At the county assembly, we also have a speaker whose interest is to be the governor of Kericho. How then do you become the governor? Impeach the governor, impeach the deputy governor, and pave the way,” Mutai told the Senate.
In a dramatic appeal, Mutai drew from literary works to liken his predicament to political betrayal and vengeance.
Quoting Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment and Shakespeare’s Macbeth, he warned against what he termed a “political murder” of elected leaders through flawed processes.
“I implore upon the county assembly of Kericho that, as much as we may have political aspirations, let us resist the temptation of political murder for the sake of ambition,” he said.
Mutai maintained that he had no role in authorising fraudulent payments or mismanaging county programs, insisting that culpable officers should face the law individually.
He asked the Senate to separate his responsibility as governor from the actions of chief officers and county officials, some of whom are expected to testify in the proceedings.
“As governor of Kericho, I stand before you under your mercy, Mr Speaker and honorable senators, so that justice may be served not just for me but for the people of Kericho,” he said.
“I put my trust in this House that has always done things in the right and constitutional way.”
