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{
    "id": 966659,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/966659/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 158,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "The Deputy Speaker",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Vacancy in the Office of Governor /Absence of Governor:- 1. There is a clear legal distinction between occurrence of a vacancy in the office of the governor, versus the absence of the governor. Those are two different things. 2. The Constitution, in Article 182, provides for the circumstances under which the office of the governor shall be deemed to be vacant; namely, when the governor:- a) Dies; b) Resigns in writing to the Speaker of the County Assembly; c) Ceases to be eligible to be elected a county governor. In other words, the governor no longer has the eligibility qualifications for election. For example, if it is discovered that some of the eligibility qualifications do not to exist; and we have had cases like this. Please note also that the qualification criteria for county governors for election is equivalent to those of MCAs, of course, as upgraded by the Elections Act in terms of the degree. d) The vacancy also occurs if subsequent to the election, the governor is convicted of an offence punishable by imprisonment of at least 12 months. Meaning that a governor who is convicted and is serving a jail term for 11 and a half months is still deemed to be in office. He must be convicted and serving, meaning he has even appealed and all appeals have not yielded fruit. Therefore, he remains the governor. I do not know how he will sign papers from prison, but that is the Constitution for you. e) If the governor is removed from office under the Constitution by way of impeachment under Article 181. There is clear guidance from the Constitution as to what shall happen once a vacancy arises in the office of the governor. According to Article 182(2) of the Constitution, if a vacancy occurs in the office of the county governor – in the circumstances I have just cited – the deputy county governor shall assume office as county governor for the remainder of the term of the county governor. If such remainder of term is more than two and a half years from the date of the next scheduled election, the deputy governor who assumes the office of the governor shall be deemed to have served a full term for purposes of applying the two-term limit for governors provided for in Article 180(7) of the Constitution. The deputy governor so assuming the office of the governor in these circumstances of Article 182 shall perform all the functions – there are no limitations because he is actually a substantive governor – and exercise all the powers of the office as a substantive governor, without any constraints. Hon. Senators, there are no ambiguities when it comes to a vacancy arising in the office of the governor. For that reason, we have had seamless assumption of deputy The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}