Fresh plan to impeach Wambora as he seeks dialogue with MCAs

Embu governor Martin Wambora and his deputy Dorothy Nditi address the press on February 6, 2014. The Embu County Assembly on Tuesday formally re-introduced a motion to impeach Governor Martin Nyaga Wambora. PHOTO/CHARLES WANYORO

What you need to know:

  • Kirimari Ward member Ibrahim Swaleh was allowed to table the motion and MCAs will start debating it after seven days.
  • Kagaari South MCA Robert Ireri, however, opposed tabling of the motion, saying it had not followed  proper rules. He said it was wrong to reintroduce the motion while the House had not invited the governor to give his side of the story.
  • Mr Wambora said the success of such talks lay with the speaker, saying he was the one to marshal the MCAs.

The Embu County Assembly yesterday formally re-introduced a motion to impeach Governor Martin Nyaga Wambora.

This came a few minutes after Mr Wambora had held talks with Speaker Kariuki Mate in a bid to stop the process.

Kirimari Ward member Ibrahim Swaleh was allowed to table the motion and MCAs will start debating it after seven days.

He urged the County Assembly to find that Mr Wambora had violated Public Procurement and Disposal Act, 2012, and the Constitution.

A similar motion was nullified by a Kerugoya court last week, which ruled that it was tabled on while it had been stopped through a court order.

Mr Wambora had visited the county assembly a few minutes after 1pm where he held a closed-door meeting with Mr Mate on the need to shelve the motion and start dialogue.

The meeting took slightly over one hour.

Mr Wambora said the success of such talks lay with the speaker, saying he was the one to marshal the MCAs.

CHANCE TO RESPOND

“We want to give dialogue a chance. We have started talking. The council of elders has called for dialogue, the youth and Maendeleo Ya Wanawake have called for it. We want to move forward, we have heard their cry. We know people have prayed, we know they have fasted. We have to listen to the people. We have to put our differences aside, and with the speaker cooperating in this venture, we can get far. We need to stop these side-shows as leaders,” he said.

Mr Mate did not divulge the progress of the talks, only saying, “the beginning of a solution is the acknowledgement that there is a problem and I think this is what the meeting was all about”.

Kagaari South MCA Robert Ireri, however, opposed tabling of the motion, saying it had not followed  proper rules.

He said it was wrong to reintroduce the motion while the House had not invited the governor to give his side of the story.

“The notice that I have, is not signed. This motion is being tabled hurriedly and is not approved by the speaker. It would be unprofessional to carry on with a motion if we are not conducting it well. There is no committee that has found Mr Wambora culpable,” he said.

But Mr Mate ruled that the notice of motion was properly before the House as it had support of 21 members and had been signed by Mr Swaleh.

He said he had studied the motion after the Kerugoya High Court pointed out some mistakes in the tabling of the earlier one that has since been annulled.

“The motion has gone through the approval stage properly. I have agonised over the motion. I have spent sleepless nights. It was not easy for me to sign it. I looked for reasons to reject it but I have not found any.  As the speaker, I will not allow the motion to kick off before the governor is heard after the seven days are over,” promised Mr Mate. He said the notice was received on April 16.

He said the assembly would decide whether Mr Wambora would be called at the plenary or at committee level to hear the allegations against him.