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{
"id": 1465112,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1465112/?format=api",
"text_counter": 145,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Elisha Ongoya",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "Mr. Speaker, Sir, on 8th November, 2023, I had the privilege of appearing before the Senate and addressing this House on a Motion for removal from office of Governor Kawira Mwangaza. That was the third attempt that had been made to remove Her Excellency, Hon. Kawira Mwangaza, from office by impeachment. It was, however, the second time that attempt was reaching this House. As I stand here today, this is the fifth attempt to remove Hon. Governor Kawira Mwangaza from office, although it is the third time for those attempts to reach this House. Mr. Speaker, Sir, and distinguished Senators, it means that between the time we came here and today, two attempts have been made to remove this Governor from office, between 8th November, 2023, and today. That determination on the part of the County Assembly either smirks of extreme commitment to salvage Meru County from some funny evil or extreme malice. I submit respectfully that I doubt that there can be any middle ground. In my oration before this House on 8th November year, I said, and I quote- “It matters not whether she shall be brought here 100 times. You cannot victimise her because those who torment her are tireless in their torments against her.” I retrieved these words from the HANSARD of this House. Let me take a step back and ask: why did I include these words in my oration? I said those words because while we were before this debating that Motion, the Mover of the present Motion sounded a warning to this House. We did not have an opportunity then to adduce that evidence because we had already finished our filings. We have an opportunity now to adduce this evidence. She said, and I quote- “I want to urge our Senate, if they reinstate Kawira Mwangaza, they should know we have six more times to impeach her.” When we were here debating the last Motion, they did not need any new grounds. They were sounding a warning to this House that if you release her, they shall come back here six times. If you reinstate her, they will impeach her until the sixth time, so that they tell the people of Meru County that they did their best. That is to mean that they tried to impeach but the Senate reinstated her. At an appropriate time, not now, we shall play for you Clip VKM1, where you will hear those words verbatim. It means we are here today as a matter of statistical count on the part of Hon. Zipporah Kinya. She has five more times to go. The question is, hon. Senators and with due respect, what can you do as a House tasked to protect devolution to stop this plainly nefarious use of the impeachment power? Let me pose the critical question on the mind of everybody, including mine. What is ailing Meru County? Mr. Speaker, Sir, and distinguished Senators, I make an argument that this question will attract both negative and positive answers. The negative answer is useful for the determination of the matters before you, while the positive answer is useful for a long-term engagement with Meru County. The negative answer is this- The problem with Meru County is not Her Excellency Hon. Kawira Mwangaza. With humility, let me repeat in clear, unambiguous and unequivocal terms. Nothing in the acts or omissions on the part of Hon. Kawira Mwangaza warrants her removal from office by way of impeachment, at least as far as that principle is established by law. Let me try to deal with the positive answer. To help us supply a positive answer to this question, we have lined up Hon. Evans Mawira Kaaria, a witness for the Governor in these proceedings. Hon. Evans Mawira is significant to these proceedings in four significant ways- The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and Audio Services, Senate."
}