Court suspends ouster motion against Nyandarua Speaker James Wahome

 The High Court in Nakuru has suspended the hearing of an impeachment motion against Nyandarua County Assembly Speaker James Ndegwa Wahome which was planned for tomorrow.

In his ruling on Wednesday, Justice Joel Ngugi noted that the county assembly had failed to demonstrate that it followed the proper statutory procedures and timelines provided by the law in the removal of a speaker.

The judge, however, directed that the hearing of the case be expedited.

“I am not persuaded that the statutory timelines have been followed in this case and for this reason I do consider appropriate to issue conservatory orders restraining the county assembly from convening a special sitting tomorrow (Thursday) to consider the notice of motion to remove the speaker,” ruled justice Ngugi.

The ruling followed a case by the speaker who sought legal redress on December 18 after he learnt that 25 out of the total 39 members of the county assembly had signed a motion to impeach him.

Through a judicial review proceeding, Mr Wahome challenged the decision by the county assembly deputy speaker Zackary Mwangi Njeru to publish a gazette notice calling for a special sitting to discuss his removal.

He accused his deputy of acting illegally by usurping the powers of a speaker despite him being in the office. He also claimed that he had not been served with the notice of the planned motion.

However, the deputy speaker, through his lawyer Peter Wanyama, insisted that he was in order to perform his duty as the deputy speaker after his boss failed to play the role.

Impeachment

Mr Wanyama argued that the speaker has been working with the clerk to frustrate the impeachment motion from being debated, forcing his client to act.

“It is in order for the county assembly to proceed with the impeachment motion since there is a deliberate action by the speaker to frustrate the process,” said Mr Wanyama.

The county assembly, which appeared as an interested party through its lawyer Kipkoech Ngetich, called on the court to consider public interest in the matter.

Mr Ngetich questioned why the process of impeachment was being rushed despite the law providing for at least 11 days before the motion can be debated.

In his opinion, the speaker reserves the mandate to publish the gazette notice and also call for a special sitting.

“In the view of article 11, processing of any motion lies with the speaker and the clerk. The court has a duty to ensure that the law is followed in the process,” said Mr Ngetich

The case, which was filed before Nyahururu High Court, was transferred to Nakuru after the presiding judge Charles Kariuki recused himself for unknown reasons.

In the case, he named Mr Njeru, Majority Leader and mover of the impeachment motion Edinald King’ori, Governor Francis Kimemia, Government Printer and the Attorney-General as respondents.

Twenty-five out of the 39 MCAs from the county signed an impeachment notification notice against Mr Wahome citing claims of gross violation of the constitution, gross misconduct and incompetence.

The deputy speaker moved to court and obtained orders compelling the county assembly to re-open the assembly premises after accusing the speaker and the clerk of shutting them in a bid to frustrate the service of notice of motion.

The deputy speaker, who assumed the speakers’ role, published the gazette notice and scheduled the special sitting for Thursday, forcing Mr Wahome to rush to court

On Wednesday, Mr Wahome had sought conservatory orders restraining county assembly from proceeding with the impeachment motion scheduled for Thursday. He claimed that he is likely to suffer prejudice should the motion be allowed to continue.

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