{"id":695162,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/695162/?format=json","text_counter":1293,"type":"other","speaker_name":"","speaker_title":"","speaker":null,"content":"also heard the Governor of Nyeri County on the grounds of removal from office by impeachment of the Governor; NOW THEREFORE, pursuant to Article 181 of the Constitution, Section 33 of the County Governments Act, 2102 and Standing Order No.68, the Senate resolves to remove from office by impeachment the Hon. James Nderitu Gachagua, the Governor of Nyeri County on the following charges; namely:- (4) Gross violation of the Constitution of Kenya, 2010, the County Governments Act, 2012, the Public Finance Management Act, 2012 and the Public Procurement and Disposal Act, 2005. (5) Failure to comply with the law; and (6) Abuse of office/Gross misconduct. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I will be very brief. In moving this Motion, I would like to thank the County Assembly of Nyeri because the Motion before us today is as a result of the County Assembly of Nyeri exercising their constitutional and statutory mandate, as they should, to oversight the executive. Therefore, I want to applaud the assembly for taking their responsibility seriously and thank them for providing the Senate with an opportunity to hear the matters they have brought before us. Secondly, this is the fifth impeachment incident that has been brought to this Senate. In the first matter involving the Governor of Embu County, this Senate decided to vote for the impeachment of the Governor of Embu County. That governor is still in office, courtesy of the Judiciary. The matter is pending before the Supreme Court. But as far as this Senate is concerned, the decision we made is final and is as it is. The second impeachment process involved Kericho County, which the Senate in its wisdom, evaluated the evidence and found that none of grounds upon which the governor had been accused of had been substantiated. The third one involved the deputy governor of Machakos County and similarly, the Senate found so. The fourth case involved the Governor of Murang’a. Again, the Senate found that there were no sufficient grounds to impeach the Governor of Murang’a County. The time has come for county governments and especially those in the executive, to know that when the assembly and the Senate are exercising this mandate, they are doing so because the law provides so. This is a quasi-judicial process and so, the rules of fairness must apply. I am sure that this evening those rules will apply. The Governor of Nyeri County has made a spirited defence by himself and through Counsel and explained to this House the reasons he believes the charges that have been brought against him do not suffice to impeach him. This House has a very important duty tonight. We must decide tonight, in a final way, in accordance with the law and the statutes, whether or not Hon. Gachagua continues to hold office as governor, based on the analysis of the evidence that has been adduced by both sides. This is a duty we must discharge. Fifthly, I thank the Senators for sitting continuously yesterday and today, especially, considering that this is the first time that this House is conducting an impeachment hearing in Plenary. This is a precedent setting procedure and I am sure that in many years to come, scholars and students of parliamentary processes and procedure will learn great lessons from what has happened in the last two days in this House. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."}