- Senators are set to start mediating the warrying Meru governor Kawira Mwangaza and MCAs after the botched impeachment of the county chief.
- Senate’s Devolution and Intergovernmental committee taken up the arbitration role and has lined-up a series of meetings to reconcile the leaders.
Image: EZEKIEL AMING'A
Senators are set to start mediating the warring Meru governor Kawira Mwangaza and MCAs after the botched impeachment of the county chief.
Senate’s Devolution and Intergovernmental committee has taken up the arbitration role in a bid to improve their relationship.
The nine-member panel has lined up a series of meetings to reconcile the leaders.
The county boss and the ward reps have been wrangling for months, culminating in the governor’s ouster by the MCAs.
The impeachment was overturned by senators who rejected all the 62 grounds fronted by the ward reps to support the ouster bid.
The committee chaired by Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale stated that the MCAs had not substantiated or proved the allegations levelled against the governor.
“Yes, we have taken up that role to arbitrate them. By the end of the month, we will sit down with the governor, MCAs and other leaders in the county to try and bring peace,” Abbas Sheikh, who chairs the committee, told the Star.
Abbas said the meetings will start at the end of the month.
In 2020, the same committee reconciled Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru and MCAs following the county boss's failed impeachment.
The parties had bitterly fallen out in the same manner Kawira and her MCAs have.
In the report of the 11-member senate team that investigated the charges against Kawira, the lawmaker pointed out the sour relationship between Kawira and the MCAs.
“The Committee further observed that in the course of its investigation, it became apparent that matters in Meru county relating to leadership and governance were not in a satisfactory state,” the report states.
“In the interest of the residents of Meru, the Committee recommends the urgent need for a concerted effort to reconcile and create a conducive environment for the county to realise meaningful development."
In their submission to the Senate, the MCAs accused the governor of vilifying them and other leaders, including the political and church leader and government officials in the county.
She also faced charges of incitement, bullying, and misleading campaigns against other leaders.
In particular, the MCAs accused Governor Kawira of humiliating the county assembly minority leader, vilifying the minority chief whip and other leaders.
She is also accused of vilifying Meru Senator, Agriculture CS Mithika Linturi, Tigania East MP and the Catholic Church and clergy.
But the county chief denied the claims and accused the MCAs of mob lynching her for her refusal to release ward development funds.
She stated that she had declined to release the funds for lack of legal framework to anchor the Fund.
In other charges, the governor was accused of nepotism, illegal appointments, unlawful dismissals and usurpation of the constitutional and statutory functions of county organs.
They said Mwangaza appointed her husband to county offices, made illegal appointments of county workers and established an illegal committee for the Meru municipality.
She was also accused of forceful entry into the county assembly precincts and mobilisation of unlawful riots against MCAs.
The MCAs also faulted the governor of falsely accusing them and other elected leaders of cartelism, blackmail, greed, corruption and intimidation.
The MCAs also said that the county chief organised violent demonstrations against them.
They also accused her of violating of Public Finance Management laws after she issued purported waivers on fees at the Meru Teaching and Referral Hospital.
She was also accused of directing county officers to participate in advancing the interests of Baite TV, a private media station owned by her family.