Extortion claim in Kidero-Shebesh row

The impeachment motion against Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero has taken an ugly twist with some Cord County Assembly members accusing their Jubilee counterparts of trying to extort money from him in order to drop the matter.

“Some have been calling the governor and demanding money from him. We tell them to desist from such. If they really want to impeach him, they should do so on the floor of the House,” said Majority Leader Elias Otieno.

The motion arose after Dr Kidero allegedly slapped Women’s Representative Rachel Shebesh over a week ago when the latter led striking workers into the governor’s office.

Mr Otieno said some lawmakers had made the matter an avenue for extortion.

When it first came up in the Assembly, Cord members walked out of the House in protest, leading to an adjournment of the motion.

The matter will be debated on October 1 when the House resumes its sittings. The adjournment could be used to defeat the motion as debate is supposed to begin one week after a notice of such a motion is issued to the Speaker. This was done last Tuesday.

County Minority leader Hashim Kamau (TNA-Jubilee), however, denied the extortion claims. “We are determined to send Dr Kidero home and such accusations are diversionary tactics. No TNA ward representative has tried to reach out to anybody, leave alone the governor himself. Such accusations are bound to arise perhaps to make us tone down but we will not,” he said.

Some Cord politicians claimed TNA was aware it did not have the numbers to pull off the required two-thirds majority vote to impeach Dr Kidero, and it had resorted to blackmail to get him to play along. The House is made up of 127 members and Cord has a majority of two members.

ROLE OF SENATE

Even if the Assembly votes to send Dr Kidero home, this will not be final as the Senate has a say on it, too. If passed, the Senate will take a vote on the matter, refer it back to the Assembly or can choose to turn it down all together but, should it approve it, Dr Kidero’s goose would be cooked. His deputy, Jonathan Mueke, would then serve for the remainder of the term if the governor was to be removed in this manner, so stipulates the Constitution.

Dr Kidero is the first among the 47 county chiefs to face an impeachment motion. According to Mr Hashim, even if the duo agreed on an out-of-court settlement, they would still press on with the impeachment mission.

Mr Kamau Thuo, who seconded the motion that was moved by Chege Ngaruiya of Kahawa West ward, added: “This is no longer within their reach. This is about the conduct of the governor that we must address even if Ms Shebesh develops cold feet.”

Contacted by the Sunday Nation for comment, Dr Kidero said: “I do not want to lecture the Assembly on its legislative mandate.” Initially Mr Kamau indicated that they would drop the motion if the matter went to court.

The 11th chapter of the Constitution says a governor can be removed from office for gross violation of the Constitution or if he commits a crime under national or international law. He can also be shown the door for abuse of office or physical or mental incapacity that would hinder him from performing his functions.