Kiambu Finance minister staring at ouster after Ward reps vote

Kiambu county assembly in a previous special sitting. [File, Standard]

Kiambu Governor Kimani Wamatangi has suffered yet another blow after the County Assembly allowed a motion to impeach his embattled Finance minister.

Members of the County Assembly voted overwhelmingly to oust Nancy Njeri Kirumba for allegedly failing to offer leadership, according to a report tabled in the House.

Njeri is also accused of "failure to process the supplementary budget in time to capture the unspent balance to be in tandem with the current financial year, contrary to Section 130 (4) and 5 of the Public Finance Management Act."

The report further alleges that the Finance Executive failed to attend committee sittings without offering valid reason, contrary to Article 195 of the Constitution.

Fifty-six members of the assembly voted for Njeri's ouster. Two members opposed while one abstained. The motion for her removal was brought by Karuri MCA Peter Wainaina Njoroge.

Limuru East MCA Macharia Wambui said, "I support removing of the CEC. All the allegations on this document are true and it is incumbent for us to remove her from office for gross misconduct, among other issues."

The voting paves the way for a special committee to be appointed to interrogate the allegations and bring the findings to the assembly, which will be followed by impeachment.

Njeri has had a rough stint after she was initially rejected by the MCAs when her name was forwarded for vetting by the assembly.

The matter moved to court after Njeri and four others who had been rejected found their way to the Executive under unclear circumstances.

Bunge Mashinani, a lobby group, filed a case at the Kiambu High Court challenging the appointments. But on January 20, during a special sitting convened by the Speaker of the County Assembly, the ward reps considered the Executives they had initially rejected and approved them.