By S, KNA
Tetu MP Geoffrey Wandeto is now calling for restraint by MCAs before embarking on the impeachment of Governors to avoid turning the process into a conduit of settling political scores.
Wandeto argues that despite the process of removing County bosses from office being constitutional, there is danger of political leaders with vested interests using it as a cover to settle scores.
“I think to some extent this independent (impeachment) process has been used to settle political scores as opposed to being an instrument of accountability. What we have seen through the various cases of impeachment that have either been successful or unsuccessful is the use of impeachment as a political tool either to remove someone who was not wanted or as a tool of blackmail,” said Wandeto while speaking on Citizen Day Break show.
His sentiments come in the wake of failed attempts to kick out Isiolo Governor Abdul Guyo and his Kericho counterpart Eric Mutai from office after the Senate overturned their impeachment on grounds of technicalities.
Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja is also staring at a possible impeachment after Kileleshwa Ward MCA Robert Alai drafted a motion to impeach him citing 20 alleged grounds to kickstart the ouster.
At least 100 MCAs from the Nairobi County Assembly have already appended their signatures on the motion.
But Wandeto says impeaching Governors should be an act of last resort, he accused some of the county bosses entrusted with public resources of mismanagement hampering service delivery.
He said the provision of the constitutions to uphold accountability must be adhered to by all state officers and those found to have violated such provisions should be dealt with in accordance with law and without partiality.
“We came from a system where power was unchecked and it was basically too difficult to remove those who were in power either through legal or any constitutional means. However, I like the way some members of the county assembly have come out to call out certain governors for failing in their work in providing social services such as water, sewerage and garbage collection for their people. Many of our Governors will tell you that they have to do certain things to members of the county assembly just for the former to buy peace from the MCAs who are always threatening to impeach them,” he added.
And in regard to the current standoff between Governors and the National Treasury over migration to the new electronic procurement system, Wandeto has suggested the need for mutual consent over the matter to ensure optimal compliance.
He noted that while the directive for government entities to onboard all their procurement processes onto the Electronic Government Procurement System (E-GPS) is a timely gesture to seal procurement irregularities and curb wastage of public resources, all stakeholders should be educated on how the system operates through countrywide public participation forums.
“I think E-GPS should not be rushed. Let CS John Mbadi come out and explain to us what this is all about. Let us all share the results of the pilot that was done in three counties and let us hear what those governors found out about what worked,” he said.
Yesterday the Council of Governors (CoG) vowed to oppose the new directive requiring all government agencies to migrate to the new electronic procurement platform arguing that they were being micromanaged by the Treasury.
The County bosses claimed the requirement to migrate to the new system was rushed making the rollout of the system ill-prepared to handle county operations.
They therefore called for the withdrawal of the directive by the Treasury via Circular dated March 2025 on the mandatory roll out of the E-GPS for all government procurement services until key technical challenges are addressed.
The CoG Chairperson Ahmed Abdullahi appealed to the National Treasury to immediately withdraw the circular directing counties to implement e-GP until proper consultation is done.
On his part Nyeri Governor Mutahi Kahiga called for more consultation in regard to the implementation and management of the new electronic system between the two levels of Government to ensure there is a seamless roll out.
He said as heads of Counties, they were in no way opposed to onboarding their procurement on the new system but such a migration can only succeed in an atmosphere of mutual understanding.
“As counties, we have no issue with e-procurement and are ready and willing to implement it as long as there are no challenges with the system. But we cannot be forced to implement the system whether we like it or not without first coming to a consensus on how we are going about it.” said Kahiga.
The National Treasury launched the e-GP System on April 7, 2025, as per a Presidential Directive, to improve processes, enhance efficiency, transparency, and accountability while procuring goods, works, and services.
Following the changes, all Accounting officers, heads of procuring entities were directed to ensure the registration of their entities to the E-GPS by June 30 2025.
In addition, all procurement function staff and users were directed to participate in a skilling program for E-GPS users organized by the National Treasury to familiarize themselves with the new system.
