Governor Ruto rubbishes bid to impeach him

Governor Isaac Ruto has dismissed plans by some MCAs to impeach him.

Mr Ruto said the bid by Kembu MCA Julius Korir would fail as it lacked substance and the numbers to meet the threshold for his removal.

"The mover of the motion is only out to cause a scare and panic among the public. His bid is not going anywhere because a number of MCAs are against the motion," Mr Ruto said Tuesday.

Flanked by 25 MCAs, the governor said Mr Korir was being pushed by outside forces, and that he would not secure the 12 MCAs' signatures required to have his motion tabled in the assembly.

"Where will he get the signatures yet a majority of MCAs are here with me and they are opposed to his bid to have me removed from office? It is just a political gimmick to cause panic among locals," he said.

He said the accusations against him were baseless and do not merit to be used in an impeachment.

"To use the EACC report released recently ranking Bomet as number three in corruption is a big joke since there is no function that is under the county that saw the county ranked as corrupt," he said.

He said the functions that contributed to the county being ranked position three were all under the national government. They include the police, issuance of birth certificates, IDs, land title deeds and recruitment of police officers.

"I am not scared or even bothered by the plot, which will not go anywhere and we will continue focusing on service delivery to the people of Bomet without wavering," he said.

Ruto said he had been forced to speak out on the intended impeachment because of the many calls from concerned voters and friends outside the county.

Some 25 MCAs led by the Leader of Majority Josphat Kirui, Leader of Minority John Chepkwony and Chief Whip David Rotich vowed to shoot down the motion if it comes to the floor of the assembly.

Mr Kirui said the motion aimed to destabilise the county and cause panic among the voters.

He said it was regrettable the mover of the motion had allowed himself to be used for selfish political interests of outside forces.

"We read a lot of mischief and will not allow it to sail through since it is wanting and we do not wish to see the county disintegrate into chaos under our watch because of malicious moves geared at fighting petty political wars," the Ndaraweta MCA said.

Longisa MCA Stephen Changmorik said it was a pity that the mover had ignored his role of representation and chosen to be used to fight the county government for selfish political ends by individuals outside the county.

Silibwet Township MCA Robert Metet called for calm among the people of Bomet, saying they were ready to put to shame political brokers out to sabotage the county leadership and the development programmes.

Ruto at the same time sought to fight claims that he had used county resources to campaign in the Kericho senatorial by-election.

He said he was in Kericho to campaign at a personal level and not as Governor of Bomet with public resources.