Waiguru takes impeachment battle to court

Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru. Kirinyaga MCAs voted on June 9, 2020 to remove her from office. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • In an urgent application filed on Wednesday, Ms Waiguru asked the court to declare her impeachment null and void pending the hearing and determination of the case.

Embattled Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru has moved to court to stop the impeachment process against her.

Ms Waiguru argued the ward representatives acted in contempt of court orders in voting to remove her from office. She said the High Court had early temporarily stopped the local leaders from debating the motion because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In an urgent application filed on Wednesday, Ms Waiguru asked the court to declare her impeachment null and void pending the hearing and determination of the case.

“Pending hearing and determination of this application, court do issue a conservatory order stopping the county assembly of Kirinyaga, any other body or authority from discussing, seizing, deliberating or otherwise acting upon the impeachment motion in respect to Ms Waiguru,”  her lawyer Waweru Gatonye said.

On Tuesday, 23 MCAs out of 33 voted for her ouster. 

In the vote, four MCAs abstained while six were absent from the tension-packed proceedings that were marred by chaos.

The law stipulates that the Senate must, within 10 days of receiving the assembly’s resolution from its Speaker, convene and set up a special committee or sit as a committee of the whole House to determine whether or not the claims in the impeachment are substantiated.