The Makueni County Assembly on Thursday impeached Governor Kivutha Kibwana on grounds of incompetence, abuse of office and gross misconduct.
Members of the County Assembly voted 35 against 10 to pass the motion of impeachment tabled by Wote Ward MCA Sammy Maseka.
Governor Kibwana has been embroiled in persistent wrangles with members of the county assembly.
The MCAs ignored calls by the County Assemblies Forum, Wiper party leader Kalonzo Musyoka and the Kamba Council of Elders to suspend the motion to allow for negotiations.
KIBWANA SUMMONED
Prof Kibwana had been summoned in the House on Thursday during debate on the impeachment motion to respond to the allegations.
He was represented by his lawyer, Wilfred Nyamu, who denied all the allegations against the governor, calling them misleading and pure propaganda.
Mr Nyamu urged the house to drop the motion, saying it was tabled unprocedurally as the assembly did not constitute a committee to draft the motion and also failed to give enough evidence before presenting it to the House.
He said he and his client were dissatisfied by how the governor was issued with an abstract of motion without any evidence and asked to appear before the house for summon without an indication of what issues to respond to.
“I am disappointed that my client was just given a draft of the motion without any proper documentation to prove the evidence that the governor had committed any wrongdoing as alleged. Therefore, the House should declare this motion null and void,” said Mr Nyamu.
The lawyer said that the governor should also be provided with the footage from CCTV cameras purportedly showing that he led goons into the assembly on September 23, 2014, an action that sparked a confrontation that led to the shooting and injuring of six people.
SOUGHT STATEMENTS
He also sought statements to prove that any payments were made to the alleged goons.
Mr Nyamu also asked to be presented with evidence on the allegations that Prof Kibwana`s wife used a county vehicle, stating that the governor might have given is wife a lift in the vehicle, which was not against the law.
“There is no evidence that Mrs Kibwana had been using the county vehicle. Instead, she had been given a lift by the governor just like any other citizen,” said Mr Nyamu.
Maseka accused Prof Kibwana of demeaning the office of the governor after he led a social media campaign in which he allegedly fed propaganda to the public against the county assembly.
But Mr Nyamu requested printed documents to prove the allegations.
The House resolved to extend its sitting until the matter is put to rest.
-nation.co.ke
