The renewed push for the removal of Kericho Governor Dr Erick Mutai has taken a new twist with 18 Members of the County Assembly (MCAs) disassociating themselves from the move.
In a letter sent to the Speaker of the Senate Amason Kingi and received by his office on August 18, 2025, the MCAs protested against the manner in which the process was conducted, citing the impartiality of the Speaker Patrick Mutai.
“We are particularly aggrieved by the procedural improprieties, lack of transparency and violation of fair administrative practices that characterized the voting session held on 15th day of August 2025,” they said in the letter.
According to the MCAs, the Speaker of the County Assembly of failed to conduct the proceedings with impartiality in several instances demonstrated bias in favour of the proponents of the motion.
They also cited the introduction of untested electronic voting machines, saying; “the introduction of electronic voting machines without consulting members and due process was contrary to the laid down procedures of acquiring such services. There was no proper tendering process, it was installed in the night before voting day.”
“We further wish to confirm Members of County Assembly (MCAs) Kericho County are 47 considering that 18 of us did not vote thus threshold of 32 was not met to warrant the impeachment of a Governor as per the County Government of Kericho.
Mutai has strongly rejected the outcome, claiming the process was manipulated and lacked transparency.
The Governor dismissed the impeachment as illegitimate and insisted that no fair vote had taken place.
“There was no impeachment in Kericho. We raised our issues on the floor of the House in person. We already knew that nine staff of the County Assembly had been given the link to pre-vote,” he alleged.
The Governor described the voting process as irregular and predetermined.
“At the beginning of the voting, it began with six votes, then it went to around 20-something, and in a short time, it jumped to 32, then 33. It confirms what these MCAs have been saying: the results were already decided before the process began,” he claimed.
Mutai also questioned the use of an SMS-based system, arguing that a physical count of the 47 members would have been more transparent.
“The simple question I ask is: why resort to voting through SMS when all members are physically present? We only ask for fairness. If the assembly feels I should be impeached, I am ready to go home with my head high, where fairness and justice are done or seen to be done. I am not afraid,” he said.
He, further, raised doubts about the legality of the system, noting that it had not been verified by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), the Communications Authority, or any other government agency.
The motion introduced by Sigowet Ward MCA Kiprotich Rokony followed a report by an Ad Hoc Committee, which unearthed fraudulent expenditure amounting to over Ksh 85.7 million during the 2024/2025 financial year.
This impeachment motion came barely 10 months after the initial attempt in October last year, when Governor Mutai was impeached by 31 out of 47 Members of the Kericho County Assembly following a motion tabled by the same Member of County Assembly Kiprotich Rogony while members who supported the Governor boycotted the session in protest.
In the first impeachment bid, the governor faced charges of gross violation of the Constitution of Kenya 2010 and other relevant laws, including abuse of office contravention of the Leadership and Integrity Act, violation of the Public Finance Management Act 2012, misappropriation of public funds, illegal drawing of county revenue and engaging in indecent acts
Governor Mutai, however survived the impeachment after 34 senators voted against his removal from office, while ten voted in support of the ouster and this decision came after the Senate established that the minimum threshold of thirty-two Members of the County Assembly was not met during the vote to impeach him at the County Assembly.
