Governor Mwangaza impeachment trial kicks off this morning

 

Governor Mwangaza impeachment

Senators convene this morning to hear impeachment charges against embattled Meru Governor Kawira Mwangaza.

The first order of business as per the order paper will be for a pre-hearing meeting that will be held in camera for one hour following the impeachment of Meru governor Kawira Mwangaza by the county assembly.

Thereafter there will be preliminaries where the rules of the hearing will be spelt out and timings allocated for each party.

The charges against Governor Kawira will then be read out before the county assembly is invited to give its opening statement for 30 minutes.

The governor’s representative will be next in line to give an opening statement. The afternoon session will commence at 2.30 pm with the county assembly providing evidence of witnesses if any, cross–examinations and re-examinations which will run for 4 hours until 6.30 pm.

The Tuesday session will commence at 9.00 am with the governor or her representative taking to the floor. The session will continue for four hours until 2.00 pm.

The afternoon session on Tuesday is reserved for questions or clarifications by senators before closing statements are issued and senators vote to either uphold her impeachment or reject it.

Kawira is facing charges of gross constitutional violations, misconduct, and abuse of office.

She previously survived impeachment motions in November 2023 and December 2022, despite five total attempts by the assembly to remove her. If the Senate votes to uphold her impeachment she will be removed from office and her deputy takes over.

Conversely, if the charges are rejected, the Senate Speaker will inform the Meru County Assembly’s Speaker.

Should the charges be dismissed, any subsequent attempt to introduce the same allegations in the County Assembly can only occur after a three-month period.

The Senate will also adopt or reject the nomination of Douglas Kanja as the Inspector General of police.

BY KBC NEWS