Kitui County Senator Enoch Kiio Wambua strongly supports a bill that aims to increase the threshold for impeaching a governor from one-third to two-thirds in county assemblies. He believes this change is long overdue, emphasizing that governors have often faced impeachment without valid constitutional grounds.
Wambua pointed out instances where governors, like Governor Sonko, faced impeachment for reasons unrelated to constitutional breaches. He expressed regret over such cases, noting that unjust impeachments have had severe consequences, preventing individuals from holding public office even when they’ve done no wrong according to the constitution.
“To date, I believe there were no grounds for removal of Governor Sonko from office. I believe he was removed from office for other reasons and not the breach of the constitution. Mr Speaker, a very young leader, very robust and a man of people cannot hold office because he was impeached for extra reasons”.
The senator urged the committee on devolution to prioritize this issue, emphasizing the need to protect the executive from unnecessary suffering. He highlighted the case of Governor Sonko as an example of a young, dynamic leader being unfairly removed from office due to reasons other than constitutional violations.
Wambua called for a comprehensive impeachment law that would prevent politicians from using impeachment as a tool for settling political scores. He stressed the importance of creating a watertight legal framework to ensure that governors are impeached only when there are genuine and constitutionally valid reasons for their removal.
“Let the committee on devolution take up this matter and bring a proper bill on the impeachment of a governor. We have seen governors go through anguish and pain of impeachment for reasons other than the provision of the constitution on the removal of governors,” he said.
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