Nyandarua County Assembly Speaker James Ndegwa Wahome was on Friday evening impeached during a special sitting that was hurriedly convened by local Members of County Assembly (MCAs).
This is after a ruling by the Nakuru High Court Judge Joel Ngugi on Friday morning that gave the assembly a go ahead on the impeachment motion as long as they followed the right procedure.
Wahome who is also the County Assembly Forum (CAF) chair had earlier moved to the courts to seek orders to bar the assembly from impeaching him arguing that they had not followed the right procedure.
In a motion moved by the leader of majority Ednard Kingori, 30 MCAs voted in support of the motion, with one MCA voting against the motion.
Eight members were absent the sitting.
Speaking to the press outside the assembly premises, Kingori said that they had followed the right procedure as they had a gazette notice allowing a special sitting.
“After the court ruling, the deputy speaker obtained a gazette notice allowing us to convene the sitting to impeach Wahome. Thirty MCAs have voted in favor of the motion out of the 39 members in the assembly after eight of the members absconded the sitting,” he said.
The speaker is being accused of gross misconduct, abuse of office, nepotism in hiring of staff among other ills.
While tabling the motion, Kingori had also accused the speaker of being a signatory of three assembly bank accounts which is against the law.
The speaker’s lawyers led by Waichungo Martin have since vowed to sue the MCAs for contempt of court.
Meanwhile, there were celebrations in Ol Kalou town following the impeachment of the speaker as the residents welcomed the move by MCAs to impeach Wahome.
The residents who accused the speaker of nepotism also noted that the move will cool down political temperatures in the county.
By Jesse Mwitwa
