Robert Monda's impeachment trial to be heard in plenary

A last-minute change of heart by Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna on Thursday sent the impeachment trial of embattled Kisii Deputy Governor Dr Robert Monda to plenary.

In a move that pulled the rug out from under Majority Leader Aaron Cheruiyot, Senator Sifuna withdrew his support for a move by the Senate House Business Committee (HBC) to set up an 11-member special committee to investigate the proposed impeachment of Mr Monda.

In a tense moment on the floor of the Senate, the ODM Secretary General suddenly made a U-turn against supporting the motion by Senator Cheruiyot.

Mr Sifuna, who had ostensibly risen to support the motion, instead announced his intention to withdraw his support for it.

The Deputy Senate Minority Whip said he had expressed his intention to Senator Cheruiyot to withdraw his support for the Motion, which was arrived at by the HBC on Tuesday. “Unfortunately I cannot second the Motion… I intend to withdraw my intention to second the Motion,” said Senator Sifuna.

Attempts by Senator Cheruiyot to get another seconder for the motion flopped with Senate Speaker Amason Kingi putting an end to the efforts. 

“You clearly don’t have a seconder for the motion. Now the motion for the establishment of a special committee having suffered that setback, the fallback position is that the matter shall be heard in plenary. I will therefore be giving further directions in due course,” said Speaker Kingi to the applause of members.

The House leadership had proposed Kajiado Senator Seki Lenku, Bungoma’s David Wafula Wakoli, Joe Nyutu (Murang’a), Okiya Omtatah (Busia), James Lomenen (Turkana), Issa Juma Boy (Kwale) and nominated senators Mariam Sheikh Omar, Prof Margaret Kamar, Beth Syengo, Shakila Abdallah, and Crystal Asige.

Moving the motion, Senator Cheruiyot said the HBC had decided on the special committee route but left it open for members to make the final decision on which route to take to try the Kisii DG.

Perfect or imperfect

He explained that both routes have their own flaws and weaknesses and that there has never been a perfect or imperfect way to consider impeachment. 

“This is the proposal from the HBC once considered but I want to reiterate that on this matter, the final decision lies with the members. Both methods are effective and therefore it is for the House to decide,” said the Kericho senator.

“If the members do elect as we proposed to go the way of the committee, I will be glad to proceed with that particular business as proposed. If they elect otherwise, we are ready for duty as well. I wish to request the senator of Nairobi to second the motion,” he added.

Dr Monda was impeached by the Kisii MCAs on Thursday last week after 53 of the 70 MCAs voted in favour of the impeachment motion, with only 15 MCAs not supporting it.

He was impeached on four grounds, including gross violation of the Constitution, abuse of office, gross misconduct and crimes under national law.

The mover of the impeachment motion, Ichuni MCA Mr Wycliffe Siocha, accused Dr Monda of accepting a bribe of Sh800,000 from a poor, unemployed and desperate youth from Kisii in exchange for a job that did not materialise.

Under the charge of gross violation of the Constitution or any other law, Dr Monda is accused of soliciting and receiving a bribe to compromise the integrity of the Gusii Water and Sanitation Company (GWASCO) recruitment process, driven by nepotism, favouritism, improper and ulterior motives and for corrupt purposes in complete disregard of the provisions of the law. 

Receiving a bribe of Sh800,000

“By virtue of the deputy governor requesting and receiving a bribe of Sh800,000, he is in breach of the provisions of Article 232, which obligates public officers to observe the values and principles of public service that include high standards of professional ethics, fair competition and merits as the basis of appointments and promotions,” reads in part the particulars of the charge.

The allegations further state that the DG told Dennis Mokaya’s father that he could secure a job for his son at Gwasco after they advertised for the position of a commercial manager upon paying a bribe of Sh800,000 only upon his shortlisting and being interviewed for the post. 

“The deputy governor used his office to improperly confer a benefit to himself when he solicited a sum of Sh800,000 from one Dennis Mokaya and his family in the pretext to secure him a job for the said post of a commercial Manager of GWASCO, an entity of Kisii County Government.”

Under abuse of office, Dr Monda is accused of using his office to solicit the bribe, thereby conferring a financial benefit on himself, and subsequently sending Sh100,000 to the Gwasco managing director to influence the award of a contract of employment to a favoured interviewee, thereby abusing his office and contravening Articles 73 and 75 of the Constitution and several sections of the Leadership and Integrity Act.

He is also accused of continuously diverting county enforcement officers from their duties to work on his farm, part of the land allocated to him by his father. 

“Since he came into office, there have been at least Five (5) officers working in the farm, a clear demonstration that the Deputy Executive in chief is misusing the staff of the county,” reads in part the allegations.

Dr Monda will now be tried by the plenary, which will hear the details of the charges against him.

This is after the Senate serves the deputy governor and his accusers, the county assembly, notifying them of the impending trial.

Submit a list of lawyers

The two parties will be given a period to submit a list of lawyers who would represent them in the case, a list of witnesses, exhibits and evidence they would use in their arguments.

The senators will then hold a preliminary hearing after Speaker Kingi sets the dates for the impeachment hearing before the MCAs take the stage to present their case. 

The deputy governor will then face the plenary to defend himself against the MCAs' accusations.

The senators will then vote on whether to save him or uphold the Kisii County Assembly's decision.

All 67 senators will now participate during the cross-examination of witnesses, but only senators elected from the 47 counties (47 delegations) will be allowed to vote on the impeachment. 

If a majority of the county delegations in the Senate, in this case 24, vote to uphold the charges, the deputy governor will be removed from office.

If, on the other hand, the delegations vote to reject the impeachment, the Speaker of the Senate should notify the Speaker of the County Assembly.

However, if impeached by the Senate, the deputy governor also has the option of challenging the decisions in court.

Dr Monda will be the second DG to face the Senate since the 2022 elections, following Siaya DG William Oduol, who was saved by the House.

This will be the second time that the Senate will hear an impeachment case against a deputy governor after Mr Oduol's case.
Last year, senators heard an impeachment motion against Governor James Orengo's deputy and rejected it by a majority vote.