Court awards Deputy Speaker Sh200,000 for wrongful impeachment

Nakuru County Assembly Deputy Speaker has been awarded Sh200,000 after the court found fault in his impeachment by the Nakuru County Assembly.

Samuel Tonui was impeached as a deputy speaker on March 11, 2015 after the county assembly moved a motion to amend various standing orders of the assembly, among them doing away with the requirement to remove deputy speaker by 75 per cent and replacing it with simple majority.

This court found that this amendment led to Tonui's impeachment without being accorded enough time to prepare for hearing of the motion.

Delivering her ruling, Justice Janet Mulwa said that the speaker by then Susan Kihika and the County Clerk Joseph Malinda violated the petitioner's right by failing to accord him reasonable time to prepare for his defence.

“I find out that the county Speaker and the county clerk violated the petitioner right under article 47 of constitution by failing to accord him reasonable time to prepare his defence and failing to furnish him with the necessary evidence,” ruled the judge.

Tonui alleged that his removal was un-procedural and further accused the two for manipulating the house against him and voting to remove him which he termed it as illegal and unconstitutional.

Petitioner's counsel Kipkoech Ngetich told the court that the Notice of Motion seeking to amend the standing orders was tabled in the afternoon though it was not in the order paper.

 “On March 11, 2015, motion to amend the standing orders was approved in the morning and the motion to remove the petitioner was heard on the same day and that the said amendments were modify only to remove the petitioner,” Ngetich said.

In his petition Tonui prayed for court to reinstate him for his position which the court ruled out that it has already been overtaken by events given that election was 2017 and that the petitioner is currently Deputy Speaker.

The court ordered that the amending the standing orders was unconstitutional thereby declaring it as null and void.

“A declaration that the petitioner’s right to fair administrative action has been breached by the county speaker,” court ruled.

“The petitioner is awarded general damages of Sh200,000 against the speaker, and petitioner shall have costs of the petition,” court directed.