GOVERNOR KAWIRA MWANGAZA
A petition has been filed to the Meru County Assembly to impeach Meru’s first female governor, Hon Kawira Mwangaza.
Constitutional activist Salesio Thuranira, a.k.a ‘Omtatah’ filed the petition on October 27 to impeach Kawira over alleged abuse of office and gross misconduct. According to Thuranira, Kawira has broken the law on several grounds:
Firstly, by retaining Rufus Miriti as the County Secretary, she went against section 44 of the County Governments Act which states that the county secretary should be competitively appointed and approved by the county assembly.
In the same breath, Thuranira is arguing that the appointment of Francis Mungai as the Meru County Revenue Board General Manager was done contrary to section six of the Meru Revenue Board Act, 2014 which establishes that such appointments must undergo a competitive process and shall be subject to the approval by the County Assembly.
Similarly, the governor is accused of appointing Robert Murega Rimbera Baichu as Patron of Meru Youth Service and Hustlers Ambassador. Baichu is the governor’s husband. He has been on the spot for participating in official county meetings, yet he is not a state officer.
Other allegations include employing her relatives in various county positions. The situation is worsened by the fact that Governor Kawira and Members of Meru County Assembly currently do not see eye to eye.
According to the Meru Assembly Clerk Jacob Kirari, the petition is being studied by the legal team to establish its validity.
Before politics, she operated a chain of hardware business
Bishop Kawira Mwangaza is not new in Kenya’s political scene. In 2013, she vied for Buuri Constituency Parliamentary seat. Even though she was not elected, luck would shine on her In 2017 when she became Woman Representative of Meru County and in August 2022, she became Governor for Meru County in an election that saw Kenya record the highest number of female governors.
Kawira holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Guidance and Counseling from Kampala International University, Bachelor of Arts in Transformational Leadership from Pan African University and a Certificate in Human Resources from Makerere University.
Before joining politics, she operated a successful cake-baking business and a chain of hardware around the upper Eastern. She is also the brains behind Baite TV, the first Kimeru station known.
