Impeachment motion was illegal, says Alfred Mutua

Machakos Governor Alfred Mutua says the recent motion to impeach him flopped because it was premature and unconstitutional.

The motion, which was debated for close to 10 hours, was eventually defeated as 26 MCAs voted to approve the impeachment while 31 stayed away from the assembly.

Two other members were not present during voting.

Dr Mutua, who was represented by lawyer Wilfred Nyamu during the debate, said the motion was unconstitutional as it lacked public participation.

NULL AND VOID

“An impeachment motion devoid of public participation is null and void. Members of the public ought to have been consulted since the governor was elected by over 200,000 people and not 59 MCAs,” Mr Nyamu argued.

He said there was no evidence to show that the governor was directly involved in the matters raised in the debate and for which he was being accused.

“The governor is neither the county executive of finance nor an accounting officer of any of the county government entities,” he said, adding it was premature for the assembly to point fingers at the governor before exhausting other avenues for dealing with the officers who are directly responsible.

LAST RESORT

The impeachment of a governor, he said, should come as a last resort.

But speaking after the debate, MCAs who took part in the voting said they had done their duty and that it was now upon the public to judge the governor based on facts presented in the debate.

Ndalani Ward MCA Stephen Muthuka, who moved the motion, said the members would go on record as having stood for the truth.

The MCAs also presented their dossier on Dr Mutua to the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission on Thursday and demanded further action.

And while Dr Mutua may have survived the county assembly storm, he risks arrest after failing to appear before the Senate Public Accounts and Investments Committee on Thursday.