BOMET Governor Isaac Rutto may now face an impeachment motion. His strong defence of devolution and county powers has been interpreted as a signal of his presidential ambitions.
That has rattled the kitchen cabinet of Deputy President William Ruto which has now hatched a plot to impeach the Governor. Senior URP leaders from Rift Valley met on Wednesday night in Karen to discuss Rutto's conduct and to agree on how to "cut him to size".
The meeting which was attended by Dr Julius Kones, Rutto's opponent for governor in the last election, and agreed to lobby the Bomet county Assembly members to start the process of removing the former Chepalungu MP from office.
"We want to deal with this man once and for all. He plans to use public hearings that Governors are planning to popularise himself as the alternative to the Deputy President and we will not let him," said a leader who attended the meeting.
A few hours earlier at a press conference in Nairobi, 35 MPs allied to URP accused Rutto, the chairman of the Governor's council, of receiving money from foreign powers to destabilise the Jubilee government.
Governors are planning to hold public rallies across the country to mobilise Kenyans to sign a petition to give the counties and the Senate more powers over devolution.
Yesterday in the Star Rutto has denied that he is planning to topple Deputy President William Ruto in Rift Valley with the help of the ODM and foreign donors.
The grounds for the removal of a governor are covered in Article 181 of the constitution and in the County Governments Act. A governor may be removed from office for gross violation of the Constitution, for committing a crime under national or international law, or abuse of office.
But the process of removal is arduous. According to the law, a member of the county assembly must move a motion for the removal of the governor supported by at least a third of all assembly members.
If the motion is supported by at least two-thirds of members, the Speaker of the county assembly shall inform the Speaker of the Senate within two days. Within seven days, the Speaker will convene the Senate to hear the charges against the governor.
The Senate then appoints a special committee comprising 11 members to investigate and report within 10 days. If the special committee finds that the allegations have not been substantiated, further proceedings cannot be taken in respect of that allegation.
If substantiated and after the Governor is heard, the Senate will vote on the impeachment charges. If a majority of all the 67 Senators vote to uphold the impeachment charge, the governor shall cease to hold office.
URP leaders are planning a follow-up meeting to further discuss the Governor Rutto's conduct and take disciplinary action. But Senator Kipchumba Murkomen warned yesterday that expelling Rutto from URP will not cost him his job.
"Under Article 181 of the Constitution, a governor cannot be removed by expelling him from his or her political party," tweeted Murkomen yesterday.
Yesterday Bomet Deputy Speaker Joyce Korir denied there was an attempt to impeach Rutto and regretted the attempt by URP to silence him. “It is unfortunate the MPs have decided to take on Rutto for agitating for full implementation of devolution,” she said.
She said that the MPs were digging their own political graves because Rutto's main interest is to ensure the electorate enjoy the fruits of the constitution.
“The governor has not in any way shown intention to replace Ruto as Kalenjin leader. This is a lie,” she said. Bomet Majority leader Julius Korir dismissed the impeachment move as mere politics.
Bernard Ngeno, Kapletundo ward representative, however supported the move to impeach Rutto pointing out that he has overstepped his mandate in the name of agitating for devolution.
"The governor is clearly taking on the Deputy President under the veil of defending devolution. Some of his remarks are clearly political and targeted at undermining the Deputy President. This is not acceptable,” said Ngeno.
Cord Leader Raila Odinga has flown to the US with 10 governors for an investment conference in Dallas, Texas this weekend. The meeting opens tomorrow and will end on Sunday when the Kenyan delegation will make a presentation to an investor relations forum on opportunities in their counties.
The Dallas forum is the first among a number planned by Cord to help governors attract foreign direct investment and to get experience of managing devolution around thye world.
Governors on the rip include Alfred Mutua (Machakos), Cornel Rasanga Amoth (Siaya), John Nyangarama (Nyamira), Cyprian Awiti (Homa Bay), Sospeter Ojaamong (Busia), Amason Kingi (Kilifi), Josephat Nanok (Turkana), David Nkedienye (Kajiado), Jack Ranguma (Kisumu) and James Ongwae (Kisii)
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