Waiguru's D-Day as Senate special committee set to table report

The 11-member Senate Special committee investigating the impeachment of Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru will this afternoon table its report.

The Senate will hold a special sitting on Friday 26th June 2020 to consider the report.

Senate Speaker Ken Lusaka says the matter shall be the only business for the day and immediately after the Senate will adjourn until 7th July.

The committee headed by Kakamega legislator Cleophas Malala on Tuesday and Wednesday heard the impeachment motion against the embattled Kirinyaga Governor.

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Before the hearing, Waiguru tabled 40 cartons of evidentiary documents to the Office of the Clerk of the Senate for her defence in conformity with the deadline set by the Senate committee.

The Governor presented three witnesses in defence led by her Chief witness Mr Joseph Carillas Otieno who serves as the Kirinyaga County Procurement Director.

Otieno was taken to task on awarding of tenders after the County Assembly’s legal counsel claimed two companies with similar names were awarded tenders amounting to millions of shillings without following the due process.

He also refuted claims the county boss appointed her confidants to chair the tender committees.

This is after two employees of the County Government Pauline Kamau and Gichira Wayne featured prominently during the proceedings for chairing evaluation committees.

He told the committee there was nothing wrong with the two being nominated to chair the evaluation committees.

“The establishment of tender evaluation committees is the role of the accounting officer. I can confirm that the accounting officer has been establishing evaluation committees,” he said.

Kirinyaga County Assembly team through their advocates and witnesses were given three hours to present evidence and justify the impeachment.

They were Ndegwa Njiru, who is the advocate of the Kirinyaga County Assembly, Leader of Majority James Murango, Chair of Budget Committee David Mathenge and Davidson Muchira.

Governor Waiguru, in her closing statement Wednesday, was confident that her lawyers have dispelled the false allegations that formed the basis of her impeachment.

“We have seen that they [allegations] are an affront to the impeachment process as prescribed in the Constitution… I reiterate that these kinds of falsehoods not only demean the legislative arm of the County Government but are proof that the motion was only seeking to malign my name with an ulterior motive by the MCAs,” remarked Waiguru.

On its part, the Assembly through lead counsel Ndegwa Njiru, urged the Senate Committee to look at the transgressions demonstrated before it and committed on the residents of Kirinyaga County and Kenyans as a whole.

The governor was ousted on June 9, 2020, after 23 out of 33 MCAs voted in support of her impeachment on the charges of violation of the constitution, abuse of office and gross misconduct.