Amos Nyaribo, the governor of Nyamira County in Kenya, has been under siege for several months, and things are getting more difficult for him.
A notice of impeachment motion against him has been tabled at the county assembly, just one day after some members of the House vowed to boot him out.
Esise Ward Representative Josiah Mang’era proposes to move a motion to remove Nyaribo from office in a notice filed on Tuesday.
“The grounds of removal are hereby attached,” said Mang’era during the Tuesday morning session.
The grounds include alleged illegal recruitment of county staff, disobedience of court orders, flagging off of empty containers disguised as medical supplies, and alleged nepotism in his administration. Speaker Enock Okero adjourned the assembly to Tuesday at 2.30 p.m.
Meanwhile, security has been beefed up at the assembly, with dozens of armed, uniformed police officers being deployed at the premises located near Nyamira town.
County enforcement officers have also been spotted patrolling around the house.
The officers received a rude welcome when they found a heap of stones and raw sewage blocking the entrance to the legislative house.
Police are yet to identify and arrest the people behind the mess. The County Government of Nyamira condemned the act in a statement sent to media houses.
“The assembly should be allowed to conduct its business as mandated by the law even as the executive implements its development agenda for the residents of Nyamira County,” the statement by Chief of Staff Dennis Onsarigo reads in part.
“Nyamira residents are urged to address political matters through civil and peaceful means. As a government, we call upon the National Police Service and other security apparatus to investigate, apprehend, and bring to book the perpetrators behind this unbecoming occurrence bordering on chaos and violence.”
By Monday evening, some ward reps had vowed to kick out Nyaribo even attempts by high-profile politicians to have the legislators hold talks with the governor failed to bear fruit.
The ward reps, led by deputy speaker Nyabaro Momanyi, declared that the time for negotiations was over.
“By tomorrow (Tuesday), the issues will be turned into a public document that can be accessed by the assembly clerk. The time we have now is for public prosecutions,” said Nyabaro.
The MCAs have accused Nyaribo of receiving irregular payments of Sh5 million monthly as salary, among other allegations.
“It is only in Nyamira where the governor is paid Sh5 million in a pay slip. It is only in Nyamira where an ECDE teacher gets a gross pay of Sh25 million,” the deputy speaker said.
The MCAs have also accused the governor of launching empty boxes in the name of medical projects.
“… and somebody admits in the Senate that it was more oxygen than drugs,” noted Nyabaro.
The accusations, the MCAs said, “are many” as will be tabled before the county assembly, and “they all border on misappropriation of funds and abuse of office”.
