Bribery claims emerge as Nakuru MCAs vote against ouster motions

Nakuru Governor Susan Kihika before the Senate Devolution Committee at Bunge Towers on September 17, 2026. [Elvis Ogina, Standard]

For three weeks, from September 29, 2026, the Members of the County Assembly (MCAs) in Nakuru began interrogating top Nakuru County Executives.

The County Executive Committee Members (CECMs), Chief Officers (CO) and other top executives from the 10 departments in the county were grilled over budgetary allocations, against actual implementation.

The heated interrogations that ended on October 14 culminated in two impeachment motions against CECM Infrastructure Engineer Michael Karanja and Education’s Zipporah Wambui.

However, last week, both motions crumbled.

First, out of 62 MCAs, only 14 voted in support of the impeachment motion against Karanja, with 46 voting against it and two abstaining from voting.

“The motion for the impeachment of Infrastructure CECM is defeated,” pronounced the assembly’s Speaker Joel Karuri.

Karanja had been accused of authorising a road rehabilitation deal (Imarisha barabara) with the National Youth Service (NYS) for Sh412 million, without following proper procurement procedure.

“The CECM allowed his CO to make an advance payment of Sh112 million to NYS, in contravention of the Public Procurement Act,” the motion read.

The motion for impeachment of Wambui was not even tabled, with the mover of the motion withdrawing it.

The same was allegedly dropped after the department and the County Assembly’s Education Committee held a three-day consultative meeting to review ongoing programs, bursary disbursements, and project allocations.

Wambui had been cited for incompetence, conflict of interest and gross misconduct in failing to facilitate timely bursary allocations for needy eligible students in the second tranche for the financial year 2025/2026.

She was also said to have violated the constitution by using her office to engage in political campaigns, raising concerns over integrity, with her personal interest against her public duty.

During the three weeks of intense interrogations, the Nakuru MCAs showed unity, demanded the presence of the county executives and accountability and even wanted Governor Susan Kihika summoned in the assembly.

Some of them even cried, complaining about poor roads within their ward. Others shouted at the two CECMs, calling them out for their failures.

However, barely 10 days after the interrogation ended, the majority of the MCAs voted against the impeachment motion and defended their position, saying the motions were uncalled for.

Division and disagreements broadened to the point that the adoption of the report on the interrogations was delayed for lacking the majority backing of members in the responsible committee.

“Out of 26 committee members in the department of implementation, only 13 signed it. We need time to get more support,” said John Macharia, the chair of the committee.

To add to the misery, on Friday, the ruling UDA Party removed its Majority Leader, Keringet Ward MCA William Mutai, who supported the impeachment motion and his deputy, Rose Gathoni.

Nakuru residents remained puzzled at how the house that was united for three weeks crumbled.

“There is no other reason that the oversight role collapsed. We believe that they were compromised,” said political analyst Gitile Naituli.

Naituli noted that during interrogations, it was clear that there was a gap in implementation, fund misuse and delayed road projects.

On their part, the MCAs who supported the motion accused the opponents of allegedly receiving Sh10,000 inducement to vote against the impeachment motions and reject the report.

Naivasha East MCA Stanley Karanja alleged that their colleagues’ actions showed they had been compromised.

He made it clear that during interrogations, only a handful of MCAs were present while the executive sympathisers were intentionally absent.

“They came to the assembly during the tabling of the report and during the impeachment motion to reject the same, without participating in the process. How can they reject something they did not participate in?” he posed.

Karanja warned the residents of Nakuru not to depend on the current assembly to do oversight work, insisting that the majority had been promised more money and an alleged trip to Mombasa.

He added that the executive had taken advantage of the fact that the MCAs were in need of stimulants because of their many needs and low salaries to induce them with cash.

“Someone was crying in the assembly because his ward did not have good roads but a week later changed his tune and voted against the impeachment. That speaks volumes,” said Karanja.

Gathoni retaliated that the assembly had died, having been captured by the executives and that their colleagues had let the people of Nakuru down.

However, in contrast, Mosop MCA Alex Langat, who was appointed as the majority leader, said the motions had not been tabled properly and lacked evidence.

MCA Francis Kuria said that issues raised against Karanja should have been discussed and resolved at the committee level and not through an impeachment motion.

“The MCAs should have first called on investigations, including other authorities, before moving impeachment motions,” he said.

He denied the claims that they had been paid Sh10,000, saying they were not worth that amount. However, he admitted that their reason for voting No was also to get on the good side of the governor and push for development.

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