Embu Senator Njeru Ndwiga (centre) consults with Migori Senator Ochillo Ayacko (right) and the senate’s legal counsel. /COURTESY.
NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 22 – The Senate Select Committee investigating the impeachment of Taita Taveta Governor Granton Samboja has dismissed an attempt by the governor to stop its hearings which he claimed are in contempt of court.
This is after Lawyer Nelson Havi representing Samboja raised a preliminary objection arguing that the Ad-hoc committee was violating a court order he had served on the Senate stopping it from discussing the matter until it is determined at the court.
“The Governor had not been given a chance to be heard during the hearing of the charges at the County Assembly of Taita Taveta and the Particulars of Allegations had not been served upon the Governor by the Senate and the matter was before the High Court in Petition No. 402 of 2019 and that the matter was, therefore, sub judice, and could not proceed on account of Standing Order 98(2) of the Senate Standing Orders,” Havi said Tuesday in his submission to the Committee.
Taita Taveta County Assembly which was represented by lawyer Charles Njenga urged the Committee to proceed.
Njenga, in his response to the preliminary objection stated that by the time the court order was served to the County Assembly, the county had already deliberated on resolutions.
“The orders stated therein had been overtaken by events as the County Assembly had already served the Senate with the Resolution of the County Assembly,” Njenga said.
The County Assembly lawyer further sought the directions of the Chair on a Court Order issued by the High Court on October 11, in which the Resolution of the County Assembly was suspended.
The mention for the case will take place on Monday next week.
“Taking into account the mandate of the Special Committee as set out in Section 33 of the County Governments Act, 2012 and Standing Order 75 of the Senate Standing Orders, and further taking into account the directive by the Deputy Speaker of the Senate, the Special Committee dismisses the preliminary objection and resolves to proceed with the hearing in accordance with the Hearing Programme. The Special Committee shall give detailed reasons for its determination on the preliminary matter at a later date to be communicated,” the committee Chairman Njeru Ndwiga, who is Embu Senator, Njeru Ndwiga said.
The MCAs have listed six grounds to impeach the county chief.
In the first charge, Samboja is accused of misappropriating funds contrary to Section 196 of the Public Finance Management Act, 2012 and failure to submit to the County Assembly an annual report on the implementation status of the county policies and plans as required by section 30 (2)(j) of the County Governments Act, 2012.
Other charges include failure to deliver the annual State of the County Address as required by Section 30 (2) (k) of the County Governments Act, 2012, failure to remit statutory deductions to the relevant institutions including the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) and the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) and misleading the people of Taita-Taveta County.
The MCAs listed that the governor has been misleading them contrary to Section 19 of the Public Officer Ethics Act, Cap 183 Laws of Kenya as read with Article 260 of the Constitution of Kenya, 2010 and gross misconduct as the final two allegations that led to his ouster.
The committee will submit its recommendations to the floor of the House on Thursday.
