Impeachment drama: Why governors always survive

Nyamira Governor Amos Nyaribo (centre) during his Impeachment hearing before the Senate, on December 3, 2025. [Boniface Okendo, Standard Impeachment of governors and their deputies to safeguard public resources against plunder and abuse of office is a noble role for Members of County Assemblies (MCAs) provided for in the Constitution but it has since turned into an avenue of corruption, coercion and blatant misuse of tax payers money. Political analyst and governance expert Gitile Naituli estimates the cost of processing those cases could run into millions of shillings. "The cost of defending a governor facing ouster from office can easily exceed Sh30 million or more when you factor in legal representation, political negotiation, and the administrative disruptions that follow," says Prof Naituli. Given that more than 10 cases have so far collapsed upon reaching the Senate, then more Sh500 million of taxpayers money has been gobbled. Naituli also pointed out that county assemblies incur substantial expenses from special sittings, committee hearings, security arrangements, and legal advisory services, all of which are borne by the taxpayer. County resources On the flip-side, accused officials also spend a fortune of county resources to defend themselves against the accusations levelled against them. The amount includes legal fees, accommodation for staff, among others. Some of the governors who have been subjected to the impeachment proceedings, however, claim they spend money from their own pockets to defend themselves. Some governors have been accused of plundering millions meant for development in the devolved units, but those taxed with holding then accountable have largely failed in their duties. What began as a noble exercise is slowly morphing into a self-serving, money-minting scheme carefully choreographed to usher riches into the pockets of some MCAs. The impeachment exercise, has also now become a tool for political expediency. Consequently, taxpayers could be losing millions of shillings in the frequent impeachment proceedings by MCAs, most of which have failed over obvious omissions and questionable threshold questions. "These county assemblies have legal teams that can advise them on whether their impeachment motions meet the required threshold. They probably want their motions to collapse, so that the exercise can be repeated as many times as possible for financial gain," a nominated senator told The Standard yesterday. While the MCAs maintain that they are undertaking their duty as prescribed in the Constitution, sources privy to the impeachment proceedings told The Standard how the ward reps in collaboration with forces outside the county assemblies, are running a deep underground web of under-dealings to choke public funds from the county coffers. Legal fees From lucrative allowances earned in special sittings to discuss the impeachment motions, to legal fees, and to huge amounts spent on lobbying, the exercise is a game of huge financial figures. For a start, a county clerk who sought anonymity told The Standard that preparing an impeachment motion, including the legal insights to help build the case alone, costs the brain child of the impeachment at least Sh200,000. The amount can go up to Sh500,000 or more, depending on the pedigree of the lawyers involved. Other legal fees, including Senate hearings costs from Sh1 million depending on whether the suspect is a county executive member or the governor. "It is costly to undertake an impeachment proceeding. Most of the impeachment proceedings are conducted in special sittings, which means MCAs must pocket allowances for the same," said the clerk. According to the clerk, the assembly also spends money in legal fees, transport for staff during the exercise, and always seeks the services of legal experts to defend the exercise. "The process is always formal and part of the Hansard records. The financial implications are always high and are about Sh20 million for a complete hearing, but it depends on several factors," he said. For instance, former Meru Governor Kawira Mwangaza claimed who faced five impeachment proceedings, claimed she spent millions of her own resources to fight for her seat. She recounted how the impeachment attempts were a costly affair and how it is still eating into her resources as she fights at the appellate court. "I had to pay high fees to my lawyers. I have spent millions on legal charges," said the Umoja na Maendeleo Party (UMP) leader. She continues to spend more as she fights against her impeachment in the Appellate court. Even as she focuses on strengthening the UMP, while also engaging in dairy farming at her Ntumburi farm in Buuri. She is still bitter and believes she was sacrificed by powerful political figures. Kiagu Ward MCA Simon Kiambi said political and financial interests are some of the factors that influence impeachments, and asked for an amendment of the law to reduce MCAs' power to sack a governor. "A lot of money was spent in the impeachment (of Mwangaza) just like in other impeachments across the country. In my opinion the law needs to be changed, to reduce the powers by MCAs to impeach, since many do it for political and financial interests," Kiambi, said. He said when MCAs and governors do not agree on some issues, the former deploy impeachments to settle scores and sabotage a governor. According to a chief whip in one of the four Nyanza counties, at times the impeachment proceedings are fronted for political reasons and as part of an effort by MCAs to shift the blame of underdevelopment to the county Executive. Drop charges "There are times MCAs float the impeachment card to scare the governor into submission. In such cases, governors pay the MCAs to drop the cases. The amounts at times range between Sh50,000 and Sh200,000 per MCA," he says. According to constitutional lawyer Moses Ombayo, the impeachment landscape in the country reflects both the strengths and weaknesses of devolved governance. "Impeachment was designed as a safeguard against Executive excesses at the county level, but what we have seen over the years is that the process often gets weaponised, turning into political theatre rather than a sober legal remedy," said Ombayo He adds that the cost of impeachment is both financial and administrative and has become a major concern for counties already struggling with limited resources "A single impeachment process can cost a county tens of millions of shillings from legal representation, Senate hearings, expert witnesses, and disrupted county government operations. Counties end up paying an enormous price even when the governor is eventually acquitted," he said. He cites several impeachments as examples of the growing complexity of the process. "Look at cases like the impeachment attempts against Meru, Kiambu, and Nairobi governors," Ombayo says. "In each of these instances, legal challenges dragged on for months, creating uncertainty and paralysing service delivery." In Nyamira, MCAs were yesterday ruing another missed chance and millions down the drain after their third effort to impeach Governor Amos Nyaribo flopped at the Senate. This is after the motion for his impeachment was terminated at the preliminary level after his counsels Elias Mutuma and Zelmar Bonuke successfully lodged a preliminary objection on the matter, saying Nyamira MCAs flouted the Constitution in the process of removing the governor from office. Following a heated debate, it was resolved by the senators that the voting threshold should have been conducted in strict observance of the total number of members of the House, including any vacant seats. The senators also faulted the MCAs for including votes that were cast through proxies, something they say was illegal and unfounded in the Kenyan laws. Spectacular failure But it is the cost of the impeachment process that has now come under scrutiny after another spectacular failure. The two past impeachment motions had failed at the Nyamira County Assembly after the MCAs who wanted him jerked from the seat fell short of numbers. Besides the costs of the litigation at the Senate, the previous two impeachments have resulted in loss of millions from public coffers as compensation for litigated matters, as well as costs of the legal battles. [Additional reporting by Brian Kisanji, Stanley Ongwae, Phares Mutembei and Isaiah Gwengi]

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