Governor Mutai survives as Senate terminates impeachment proceedings against him

By Peter Ochieng

Erick Mutai will remain in office as Kericho governor.

The embattled county boss miraculously survived on Monday, after the Senate terminated impeachment proceedings against him on a ‘technicality.’

34 Senators voted in favour of the termination, while 10 voted against without any abstentions.

The governor through his lawyers had said that 31 Members of the County Assembly had voted in favour of the impeachment motion against him last week.

The County Assembly of Kericho has 47 MCAs. That means the motion needed the support of at least 32 MCAs.     

Earlier, governor Mutai had denied all the impeachment charges levelled against him by the Kericho County Assembly.

Governor Mutai rejected every accusation read to him by Clerk of the Senate Jeremiah Nyegenye.

He faced a wide array of accusations, with the most prominent being gross violation of the Constitution and mismanagement of county finances.

The County Assembly, through its legal representation, alleged that Mutai misappropriated, misallocated and engaged in illegal drawings of county revenue and county finances.

One of the issues raised against the governor is that he allegedly refused to implement an automated system for revenue collection, despite the requirements of the Kericho County Rating Act No. 5 of 2019.

The County Assembly also blamed governor Mutai for misusing the County Emergency Fund, in response to the Londiani accident, in which several victims were compensated using public funds.

52 people died following the grisly accident that occurred at Londiani Junction in Kericho county, in July 2023.

Governor Mutai was also accused of engaging in acts of bullying, incitement and vilification of political opponents. He is also facing charges of indecent sexual conduct.

The County Assembly's legal team had sought protection for one of their key witnesses, who is expected to testify on the allegations of sexual exploitation and molestation.

"You will notice from the presentation and charges read that one of our witnesses is a young lady who will be appearing before the Senate to testify on instances of sexual exploitation, molestation to the extent of being forced into anal sex by the Governor. To protect the identity of the witness, we have made an application to have this witness protected so that she is not exposed to the world," said Kimutai Bosek, the Assembly’s lead counsel.