Mutai's fate now lies with Senate after second impeachment

When Kericho Governor Erick Mutai appeared before a Senate Committee in June 2025. [Elvis Ogina, Standard] Embattled Kericho Governor Erick Mutai is set to appear before the Senate today for a special sitting to deliberate on his second impeachment after 33 out of 47 Members of the County Assembly (MCAs) voted to remove him from office. The big question is whether Mutai will once again survive the impeachment just as he did in October 2024, when the Senate overturned the County Assembly's resolution on grounds that it failed to meet the constitutional threshold. At the time, only 31 MCAs had voted to impeach him. Kericho Senator Aaron Cheruiyot faulted the Senate for failing Kericho residents during the first impeachment, saying unresolved issues from that process continue to plague the county. "When the impeachment was brought before the Senate in October last year, the case was terminated at the Point of Order stage. Many of the issues that were not resolved then continue to occur today," Cheruiyot said. On August 15, 2025, Mutai dismissed the latest impeachment, describing it as unfair and politically motivated. Mutai accused Speaker of the County Assembly of stage-managing the process to advance personal ambitions, claiming the electronic voting system used was compromised and designed to produce a predetermined outcome. "The process lacked transparency and was marred by irregularities. The Speaker of the Assembly stage-managed the impeachment to advance personal political ambitions," Mutai said while flanked by 18 MCAs who boycotted the vote. The governor maintained that he is ready for a fair and open process but insisted that the exercise was designed to deny justice and undermine the will of Kericho residents. On August 18, 2025, eighteen MCAs allied to Mutai submitted affidavits to the Senate protesting what they termed as an irregular and unconstitutional process. In documents received by Senate Speaker Amason Kingi, the MCAs, led by Soin MCA Dr Naaman Rop, accused the Speaker of bias, procedural improprieties, and rushing the use of electronic voting machines without notice, training, or house approval. "During the said voting session, electronic voting machines were introduced and used without orientation or testing. This created confusion, suspicion, and uncertainty among members," the affidavits read in part. Dr Rop further swore that the system was installed on the eve of the impeachment without following due procurement procedures, compromising the credibility of the vote. "There was no proper tendering process. The vote was conducted in a manner that denied members a free and fair environment to deliberate and vote consciously," he stated. The protesting MCAs concluded that they abstained from the exercise since they were not trained on the new system and could not participate in what they called "a flawed process." "I swear this affidavit to confirm that we did not vote. We abstained because we were not trained on the use of the electronic system," said Dr Rop.

Mutai's fate now lies with Senate after second impeachment

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Mutai's fate now lies with Senate after second impeachment

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