Waititu woes: Judiciary dispatches Judge to swear Nyoro in

As embattled Ferdinand Waititu plans to move to court to challenge his impeachment as the Kiambu County Governor, the swearing-in of his deputy James Nyoro is already scheduled to take place.

In a statement Thursday morning, the Judiciary indicated that Justice John Onyiego will preside over the scheduled swearing-in.

“High Court Judge Onyiego will today, January 30, preside over the swearing-in ceremony of the new Kiambu Governor James Nyoro,” the Judiciary said in a statement.

According to Mr Nyoro’s Communications Director Damaris Wambui, the swearing-in ceremony will start after 10am.

By press time, Speaker of the County Assembly Stephen Ndichu and County Commissioner Wilson Wanyaga had arrived at county headquarters. They then went into a meeting with Mr Nyoro.

Maina kamanda and nominated senator Isaac Mwaura are also at Kiambu County headquarters.

SENATE VOTE

The Senate on Wednesday night voted to uphold the impeachment of Mr Waititu after the House found him guilty of gross misconduct, abuse of office and engaging in corruption.

The voting pattern of his impeachment is believed to have been influenced by the politics of two main factions in the Jubilee party – Kieleweke, which is allied to President Uhuru Kenyatta, and Tangatanga, which supports his deputy William Ruto – as well as ODM and Wiper party members.

A total of 38 senators were in the House when the vote to kick Mr Waititu out office was taken.

About 28 senators, most of them from the opposition, convicted the governor on all three counts levelled against him by the Kiambu County Assembly and voted to remove him from office.

CHARGES

In the first count of violating the Constitution, 27 senators voted to impeach the governor while 12 voted against it.

However, in the second count, in which the governor was accused of violating national laws, 28 senators voted for his ouster while 11 opposed it, with the same pattern being repeated on the third count of gross misconduct.

This is the second time the Senate has voted to remove a governor out of eight previous impeachments.

Embu Governor Martin Wambora has gone down on record as one who survived impeachment by the Senate after fighting it out in the corridors of justice all the way from the High Court to the Supreme Court.

It will be interesting to see whether Mr Waititu will survive his impeachment considering that he also has a pending graft case at the Anti-Corruption Court.