An aggressive rallying of Senators allied to Kenya Kwanza delivered a blistering setback for Kawira Mwangaza after they managed to secure the numbers to send her home.
Senators allied to the ruling alliance teamed up to remove Mwangaza from office in a late-night voting session marred with controversy and drama.
If Mwangaza does not manage to secure Court orders to suspend her impeachment, she has been condemned as she will no longer be able to occupy any public office.
Mwangaza, who was elected as an Independent, now becomes the fifth governor to have been successfully impeached by the Senate since the advent of devolution.
Others are Mike Sonko (Nairobi), Ferdinand Waititu (Kiambu), Martin Wambora (Embu) and Mohamud Abdi (Wajir).
Mohamud and Wambora were, however, reinstated by the Courts after their impeachments were annulled.
On Tuesday night, 14 Azimio senators abstained from voting on all three charges against Mwangaza.
Kenya Kwanza controls the Senate with the majority of the members, handing the ruling outfit superior numbers to decide the fate of an impeachment motion.
Mwangaza had this year said she would join the UDA party and defend her seat in 2027 on the outfit's ticket.
In a night of drama at the Senate, battle lines were drawn between the government-allied senators and those of the Azimio, giving Mwangaza no chance to survive for a third time.
While Mwangaza needed the support of at least 24 Senators to survive, 26 Senators voted to confirm each of the three charges.
The statistics show that if two more senators had either abstained or voted against the three charges, Mwangaza would have achieved dramatic survival in the Senate.
On the first charge of gross violation of the Constitution and other laws, the Senate found Mwangaza guilty, with 26 Senators voting to confirm the charge, 4 voting against it, and 14 abstaining.
The second charge followed a similar pattern, with 26 Senators voting in favour, 2 opposing, and 14 abstaining.
The third charge, abuse of office, saw 27 Senators voting to confirm the charge, 1 voting against it, and 14 abstaining.
“The Senate has resolved to remove from office by impeachment Hon. Kawira Mwangaza, the Governor of Meru County, and the Governor accordingly ceases to hold office,” Speaker Amason Kingi ruled after the voting.
Senate Majority Leader Aaron Cheruiyot moved the motion seeking the impeachment of Mwangaza, asking senators to make the best decision in the interest of the people of Meru County with the motion seconded by Laikipia Senator John Kinyua.
However, Senate Majority Whip Boni Khalwale was the surprise government-allied senator on the list of those who did not vote to send Mwangaza home.
“I am reflecting on the history of Parliament. If Martin Shikuku were alive, Jean Marie Seroney, Chelagat Mutai, JM Kariuki—they would have wanted the Speaker to settle the important issue of matters in this case that are actively before the courts because they are sub judice,” Khalwale argued.
Khalwale’s position exposed some rifts in Kenya Kwanza over Mwangaza’s impeachment but with only a few supporting the embattled governor.
But Speaker Kingi ruled the Kakamega Senator out of order and threatened to throw him out of the Chamber as tension swirled in the Senate.
“Don’t push me into throwing you out; take your seat,” the Speaker ordered.
Earlier, there was drama in the Senate after the Speaker instructed the Sergeant-at-Arms to throw out Nominated Senator Beth Syongo from the chamber.
Kingi’s order was met with resistance with female Senators protesting what they perceived as harassment by the orderlies.
Kisii Senator Richard Onyonka criticised their colleagues from Kenya Kwanza Alliance for stifling debate before voting.
The ODM senator said most Senators wanted the law followed in Mwangaza’s impeachment by having them debate the merits and demerits of each of the three accusations before they took a vote.
The senator confirmed that opposition-allied Senators did not support the impeachment because they felt that the law was not being followed.
“Most of the Senators who voted out Governor Kawira Mwangaza were from the Kenya Kwanza Alliance, most of the Senators from Azimio La Umoja Coalition abstained from voting since we wanted the law to be followed, that is why we wanted a debate before voting takes place,” said Onyonka.
Nominated Senator Gloria Orwoba was thrown out of the house by Speaker Kingi as she protested the failure to allow debate before voting.
She termed the Senate as the house of the big boys arguing that there were no grounds for Mwangaza’s impeachment.
“We live to fight another day, the way my colleague indicated on his Facebook page ‘wanafanya kufinish kumalo’, it is a house of the big boys, patriarchy, there were no grounds for the impeachment of Governor Mwangaza because only a few big boys are upset that the governor is female,” Orwoba said.
Mwangaza had put up a spirited fight to defend herself in the Senate, even as most Senators appeared determined to send the her home.
The governor told Senators that the MCAs did not give her a fair hearing during the impeachment process at the Assembly, denying all the three charges levelled against her.
The ousted county boss told Senators that she had initiated reconciliation with political leaders from Meru County including MCAs and MPs except county Senator Kathuri Murungi.
Mwangaza had accused Murungi also the Senate deputy speaker of being behind her woes. Murungi has denied the allegations.
“Immediately after the second impeachment was dismissed I went around Meru County seeking forgiveness from anyone that I may have wronged, I have met with Members of Parliament and Members of County Assembly except the Meru Senator Kathuri Murungi,” Mwangaza on Tuesday said.
In her submissions to the Senate, Mwangaza said that she had written a letter to the Senate Devolution Committee to visit Meru County for reconciliation purposes.
She however added that allies of the Meru Senator openly protested saying that the committee will only visit the county once he gives a green light for that to happen.
Mwangaza cited her reconciliation with Mitunguu MCA Evans Mawira, who is the former Majority Leader and the mover of the second impeachment motion against her, as testimony for his reconciliation efforts.
