The Process to Impeach a County Governor in Kenya

There are several grounds to remove or impeach a county governor in Kenya. The Constitution mandates Parliament to come up with laws to impeach a county governor.

These laws also act as the guide that the Senate will follow to impeach the county governors.

The laws that govern the impeachment of a County Governor are the Constitution and the County Governments Act. They are complimented by the Standing Orders of the County Assemblies and the Senate.

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Grounds for the removal of a county governor in Kenya

Article 181 of the Constitution provides the grounds for the removal of a County Governor in Kenya–

• gross violation of the Constitution or any other law;
• where there are serious reasons to believe that the county governor has committed a crime under the national or international law;
• abuse of office or gross misconduct;
• physical or mental incapacity to perform the functions of the office of the county governor.

Article 181 also mandates parliament to come up with law with the procedure to remove a county governor. The procedure depends on the grounds above. The 10^th parliament incorporated the procedure in the County Governments Act.

Procedure to impeach a county governor in Kenya

Section 33 of the County Governments Act contains the procedure for the removal of a county governor.

The county assembly moves a motion to impeach the county governor

A Member of the County Assembly moves a motion to remove a county governor by a notice to the speaker. The member relies on the grounds (mentioned above) to remove a county governor to move the motion. The member must receive the support of two-thirds of all the other members of the Assembly to move the motion.

If the motion goes through, the County Assembly Speaker informs the Speaker of the Senate within two days. The information is in writing and refers to the County Assembly resolution passed to impeach the governor.

The County Governor continues to perform the functions of the office of the County Governor pending the outcome of the impeachment process.

Role of the Senate in the impeachment process

The Speaker of the Senate then convenes a meeting of the Senate to hear the charges the County Assembly brought against the governor. The Senate, by a determination, then appoints a special committee comprising of eleven of its members to investigate the matter.

The senate meeting and the appointment of the special committee shall occur within seven days from the day the Senate speaker received the notice of the resolution to impeach the county governor from the County Assembly Speaker.

The 11-member special committee of the Senate shall then investigate the matter and report to the Senate within ten days. IThe committee shall report whether it finds proof for the charges the accuser brought against the County Governor.

The County Governor has the right to appear and to be represented before the committee during the duration of its investigations.

Further proceedings do not take place if the special committee finds no proof against the allegations facing the governor. If it finds proof, the Senate proceeds to vote on impeachment charges. The vote only takes place after the assurance that the governor receives a fair hearing.

If a majority of the county delegations in the Senate vote to uphold the impeachment charge, the governor ceases to hold office. If the delegations vote to reject the impeachment charge, the Senate speaker shall notify the speaker of the respective County Assembly.

Any Member of the County Assembly can only introduce the same charges before the Assembly after three months from the day the Senate votes against the impeachment charges.

The procedure for the removal of the President on grounds of incapacity under Article 144 of the Constitution shall apply, with necessary modifications, to the removal of a County Governor.

Vacancy in the office of the county governor

Article 182 of the constitution provides for the procedure to fill a vacancy in the office of the county governor. When the Senate impeaches the governor, the deputy governor shall assume office as county governor. The deputy governor shall serve for the remainder of the term of the county governor.

However, if the deputy governor cannot assume the office of the governor, the assembly speaker shall act as the county governor.

Are there elections when a governor is impeached in Kenya? Elections do not occur when the deputy governor assumes office. When the deputy governor is unable to assume office, elections for the office of the County Governor shall occur within sixty days after the speaker assumes the office of the County Governor.

The vacancy does not occur if the Senate rejects the impeachment charges facing the governor. It also does not occur when the special committee finds no proof for those charges since no further proceedings take place.