A Milimani Court has upheld the Senate impeachment of Meru County Governor, Kawira Mwangaza, after dismissing the amended Petition she had filed challenging her impeachment.
The Meru Governor had filed the Amended Petition challenging her impeachment by the Senate on grounds that the process violated various constitutional provisions, including the right to a fair hearing as provided in Article 50, public participation in Article 10, and the sub judice principle.
Governor Mwangaza, who is the petitioner, had filed the Amended Petition against the Speaker of the Senate, Amason Kingi, as the respondent.
In her petition, Mwangaza had argued that the impeachment did not meet the constitutional threshold, that it was conducted in defiance of a valid court order, and was based on matters already pending before the High Court in the Meru High Court Constitutional and Human Rights Petition No. E013 of 2024, and that the process violated the principle of public participation, as she was denied a fair hearing.
The respondent, who is the Speaker of the Senate, defended the impeachment process, arguing that the Senate followed due process, as the charges met the constitutional threshold, of which the Governor was accorded a fair hearing.
The court hearing that was presided over by Justice Bahati Mwamuye identified seven issues for determination, which include whether the Respondent was a proper party and whether the orders sought against the Senate can issue, whether the Senate impeachment was invalid for being in defiance of a valid Court order, whether the impeachment was invalid for being predicated on matters sub judice.
Other issues for determination were whether Section 33(8) of the County Governments Act contravenes Article 50(2)(o) of the Constitution and is therefore unconstitutional, whether the threshold for public participation in the impeachment process was met, and whether the Senate impeachment was invalid due to a violation of the right to a fair hearing.
Upon consideration of the determination issues, the Milimani High Court dismissed the petition after finding that the Speaker of the Senate was a proper party to be sued directly and also on behalf of the Senate for the purposes of the impeachment challenge and that consequently the orders sought by the petitioner against the Senate can issue.
The Court also dismissed the petition on the grounds that the Senate did not act in deliberate defiance of the court order issued by the High Court sitting at Meru in Meru High Court Constitutional and Human Rights Petition No. E013 of 2024, a matter in which the Senate was not a party and which the petitioner did not properly place before the Senate, stating that such grounds could not make the petitioner invalidate the impeachment action by the Senate.
Milimani High Court also found out that the petitioner had not proved that the Senate’s deliberations were prejudiced or were likely to prejudice ongoing proceedings in various courts where those matters are being litigated, and therefore, the sub judice argument advanced by the petitioner was insufficient to invalidate the impeachment action by the Senate.
The Court also reserved that the issue for determination be done by the High Court sitting at Meru, as it had found out that all parties were in agreement that the issue of the constitutionality of Section 33(8) of the County Governments Act is pending before the High Court in Meru in a Constitutional and Human Rights Petition which was filed earlier than the present Amended Petition.
They also considered that all parties were in agreement that the issue of public participation is a significant element in Meru High Court Constitutional and Human Rights Petition No. E013 of 2024, which was filed earlier than the present Amended Petition.
The petition was also dismissed on grounds that the impeachment action by the Senate met the required constitutional threshold, and no basis had been laid to warrant interference by the High Court.
The petitioner acknowledged, and the respondent and interested parties agreed, that Meru High Court Constitutional and Human Rights Petition No. E013 of 2024 was a constitutional litigation by the petitioner seeking invalidation of the County Assembly’s Impeachment Motion, while the present Petition sought an invalidation of the Senate’s subsequent Impeachment Resolution.
In her argument, the petitioner averred that the two cases, both still active, were separate and she conceded that there were some issues that overlapped between the two High Court Petitions.
While making the ruling, the High Court in Milimani found that the petitioner was accorded a fair hearing in the Senate and that the case of the Amended Petition dated 23rd December 2024 was without merit.
The Court also said that the Gazette Notice No. 10351 vol. CXXVI-No 130 dated 20th August 2024 published on 21st August 2024 and issued by the respondent communicating the decision and resolution of the Senate to remove the petitioner from office as the Governor of Meru County by way of impeachment is affirmed for the purposes of the proceedings.
The court ordered that each party shall bear its own costs.
By Bernadette Khaduli
