Kenya: Two petitioners have moved to court to block the National Assembly and all county assembly Speakers from accepting impeachment of Cabinet secretaries and governors.
Douglas Njenga Irungu and Emily Njoki Maina want the CSs, governors and County Executive Committee (CEC) members to remain in office and continue to discharge duties pending hearing and determination of their petitions.
The petitioners argued that there is imminent threat by MPs and Members of County Assemblies (MCAs) to impeach CSs and governors and might end up permanently prejudicing the public’s right to service delivery.
They noted that a recent Motion before Parliament against Devolution CS Anne Waiguru was brought in total disregard of constitutional requirement of public participation.
Justice Mumbi Ngugi yesterday certified the case as urgent and directed the petitioners to appear before Justice Isaac Lenaola on June 24 for hearing of the matter.
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Public participation
The petitioners stated that the recent Motion by Igembe South MP Mithika Linturi would have potential harmful consequences to the functions of the offices of CS, governors and CEC members.
“Linturi has not yet put forth clearly the extent of the alleged misconduct by Devolution CS which essentially should be directed to the President as CSs are individually and collectively accountable to the President,” they said.
The President, they pointed out, might dismiss a CS without necessarily going through a parliamentary process of impeachment and therefore this should be the last resort if all disciplinary measures have been exhausted.
Cabinet Secretaries Fred Matiang’i (Information) and Felix Kosgey (Agriculture) have been threatened with impeachment for various reasons.
They argued the current impeachment process appears to be carried out in a blatant disregard of the law as county assemblies have failed to include public participation.
