Meru Residents Stage Protests Against Governor Mwangaza, Call For Her To Vacate
Meru residents have taken to the streets, demanding that embattled Governor Kawira Mwangaza step down.
Residents marched to the county government offices, claiming Mwangaza was there illegally.
Police were forced to use tear gas against demonstrators who had set fires outside the county offices.
Residents complained that the embattled governor had “sneaked” into the offices in an unmarked car.
“Leo ni warm up. Kesho asubuhi by 5 am atatupata hapa na tutamzuia hataingia hiyo ofisi,” a resident told the media.
Police in Meru town fire teargas as anti-Governor Kawira Mwangaza protestors block roads pic.twitter.com/B8Q0fFomaA
— NTV Kenya (@ntvkenya) August 26, 2024
According to residents, Mutuma M’Ethingia, the Deputy Governor, now holds the office of Governor of Meru County.
They maintained that Mwangaza was an impeached governor, despite any orders to the contrary.
Mwangaza was impeached by the Meru County Assembly, with 40 of 69 members voting to remove her for the third time since her swearing-in.
The Senate upheld the impeachment on Tuesday of last week.
Mwangaza was removed for gross violations of the constitution and other laws, gross misconduct, and abuse of office.
Protest Against Governor Kawira:
— Citizen TV Kenya (@citizentvkenya) August 26, 2024
Police use teargas to disperse protesters in Meru
Protesters want impeached governor out of office
High Court halted Kawira removal from office#CitizenBriefs @YvonneOkwara pic.twitter.com/rpDHHXqOpD
Senators voted to send her home based on the three charges for which she was found guilty.
Mwangaza becomes the third governor to be impeached, following Kiambu’s Ferdinand Waititu and Nairobi’s Mike Sonko in 2020.
However, the ouster was blocked after Justice Bahati Mwamuye restrained Speaker of the Senate Amason Kingi from publishing a declaration of a vacancy in the Kenya Gazette of the Office of the Governor of Meru County.
“I am satisfied that the application raises constitutional, legal, and factual issues that meet the threshold that warrants immediate intervention by this court by way of issuing ex parte interim orders,” the judge said.
The judge issued the orders after Mwangaza, through advocate Elias Mutuma, argued that the Senate allowed the reintroduction of the same charges that the Senate had found to be unconfirmed in the previous motion in 2023 without questioning the evidence.
She explained to the court that the issues on which the Senate voted are still pending resolution in court following the first impeachment motion last year.
“There has been an urgency to remove me from the office and install another person, which may be done hurriedly to frustrate me. That’s why this application should be heard urgently,” Mwangaza said.
She has been impeached three times by the Meru MCAs.
Meru Residents Stage Protests Against Governor Mwangaza, Call For Her To Vacate
Law has limit but culture , norms , and traditions have no limit, therefore 3 impeachments are grevious occurrence and there is a deeper roots expression of Meru people than courts underestimates.