Why impeachment proceedings must always consider public interest

Kericho County Govenor Eric Mutai at the Senate Chambers, Parliament, Nairobi on August 27, 2025. [Elvis Ogina, Standard]

In what could pass for the proverbial 'theatre of the absurd', the country was recently treated to a circus in the lead-up to, during and after the impeachment proceedings involving Kericho Governor Eric Mutai. It all began on the floor of the County Assembly in Kericho. Sobriety was suspended for pandemonium. Blows were exchanged. And a few (dis)Honourable Members of the August House ended up with injuries necessitating hospitalisation. In the end, an arguably flawed process had culminated into a second impeachment of the governor in under two years.

The chaotic scenes we witnessed in the Kericho County Assembly Members' (MCAs) latest failed attempt at impeachment of Mr Mutai aren't unique to the county, however. Lately, similar events have been reported-to the shock and consternation of devolution exponents-in Kirinyaga, Meru, Machakos and Nairobi counties, to name but a few. And the seeming lack of proficiency in English-or even Kiswahili-among some MCAs in Kericho-and elsewhere around the country-only adds to the disaffection of watchers with devolution as a governance concept only 15 years into the new Constitutional dispensation.