By Senate plenary to decide Sonko’s fate next Thursday
The decision was arrived at during a special senate sitting that was convened Wednesday afternoon to decide the method of hearing impeachment charges against the county boss.
But in a twist of events, the members were not given an opportunity to vote after majority leader and West Pokot Senator Samuel Poghisio failed to move the motion seeking to form an 11-member special committee to probe allegations leading to the impeachment of Sonko.
Speaker Kenneth Lusaka set to gazette 17th and 18th of December as the days to investigate the matter.
If any of the charges against the governor are upheld, he will stand impeached.
“The Majority leader having withdrawn or otherwise abandoned the notice of motion and therefore the motion..the route of the committee is therefore abandoned and therefore that means senate will investigate this matter in plenary. At a meeting held yesterday, the business committee agreed on the provisional dates in the event the matter was to be investigated in plenary…” the Speaker directed.
Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko when he earlier appeared before the Senate County Public Accounts and Investments Committee. Photo Courtesy
Lusaka had gone ahead to communicate to the house rules guiding the online voting.
However, the majority of the senators contested the online vote saying the technology could comprise the integrity of the vote in the event the system failed.
Senators Ledama Ole Kina, Kipchumba Murkomen, Moses Wetangula and Mithika Linturi had called for a mock trial to establish whether the system was effective and verifiable.
Lusaka stated the four main charges against Sonko namely; Gross violation of the Constitution or any other law (the County Governments Act, 2012, the Public Procurement and Disposal Act, 2015 and the Public Finance Management Act, 2012), abuse of office, gross misconduct and crimes under the national law.
The MCAs had told Senators that the City boss unlawfully used public funds to pay for his daughter’s travel to New York, USA, to allegedly attend the County First Lady’s Conference held during the 62nd Session of the Commission on the Status of Women 2018.
They also faulted Sonko for violating Article 73 of the Constitution and Section 8 and 11 on the Leadership and Integrity Act, 2012 on public trust and professionalism, “where he is on record admitting that he was intoxicated and thus not in the right frame of mind when he signed the Deed of Transfer for the transfer of certain functions of the county to the national government in February, 2020.”
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