With powerful forces against her, Mwangaza did not stand a chance

Former Meru Governor Kawira Mwangaza has petitioned the Court of Appeal seeking a stay on High Court’s decision that upheld her removal from office.

Through her lawyer, Elias Mutuma, Mwangaza argues that the ruling by Justice Bahati Mwamuye which dismissed her petition and affirmed her impeachment last Friday should not be enforced until her appeal is heard.

“The applicant, being aggrieved by the said judgment, has swiftly lodged a Notice of Appeal dated March 14, 2025, and intends to expeditiously pursue an appeal against the entire judgment,” Mutuma says in court documents.

This is after Mwangaza lost her bid to overturn her impeachment at the High Court and her deputy Isaac Mutuma was on Monday sworn in as the governor.

On March 14, 2025, Justice Mwamuye dismissed her petition, upholding the Senate’s decision to remove her from office.

The judge ruled that Mwangaza’s claims of procedural unfairness and rights violations lacked merit.

“I therefore dismiss the Amended Petition and uphold the Senate of Kenya’s impeachment resolution against Hon. Kawira Mwangaza, the Governor of Meru County,” Justice Mwamuye ruled.

Mwangaza was first impeached in December 2022, just 122 days into office. She attributed the move to machinations by her competitors in the August 2022 election.

Although Members of County Assembly accused her of abuse of office and gross misconduct, Mwangaza saw the charges as politically motivated and pointed fingers at her predecessor Kiraitu Murungi, Senator Kathuri Murungi, and Meru MPs.

She claimed that the MCAs were being used by her rivals to sabotage her administration.

In what seemed like a carefully planned strategy, the ruling UDA party, Kiraitu’s Devolution Empowerment Party, Peter Munya’s Party of National Unity (PNU), and Jubilee all withdrew their support for Mwangaza, exposing her to impeachment.

The signs were ominous for Mwangaza before Friday’s High Court ruling. On Thursday, the MCAs held a special sitting (as opposed to the usual Tuesday and Wednesday sittings) and tabled impeachment motions against eight members of her Cabinet.

John Kimathi, an analyst, suggested that this move was aimed at giving Isaac Mutuma, who was sworn in yesterday to replace Mwangaza, the opportunity to pick his own team.

Before the High Court sealed her fate, a record five impeachment motions had been tabled against Mwangaza in two years.

“The hope was that the Senate would grow tired of Mwangaza being repeatedly brought before them. They had even planned to table a sixth impeachment,” Kimathi said.

A major bone of contention between Mwangaza and the MCAs was the lack of a Ward Development Fund. The MCAs complained that they were excluded from the development process. After weeks of tension, the MCAs impeached her, but the Senate reinstated her.

As the dispute with the MCAs deepened, MPs joined the fray, accusing Mwangaza of poor leadership and supported her ouster.

Last week, MPs aligned with Governor Kiraitu and other leaders warned of unspecified political actions if the High Court ruled in Mwangaza’s favour.

“After March 14, we will plan and decide where we want to go as Meru,” Kiraitu had said.

Kimathi noted that the mounting pressure from influential Meru leaders, including veiled threats to switch allegiance to Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua’s camp, sealed Mwangaza’s fate.

“The leaders’ implied threats to shift political support must have worried some in government,” he said.

Devolution Empowerment Party Secretary-General Mugambi Imanyara suggested that the Meru leaders had intimidated President William Ruto with the threat of moving the region to ‘Wamunyoro.’

“If they were intimidated by the threat of moving to Wamunyoro, even we (Mwangaza’s camp) will consider our next move,” said Imanyara, who, like Mwangaza, felt betrayed.

Among the issues that worked against Mwangaza was the murder of blogger Bernard Muthiani, alias Sniper, a vocal critic of the Governor.

Muthiani’s decomposing body was found in Tharaka on December 6, 2023. Her critics, including MPs and MCAs, attempted to link her to the death, but Mwangaza denied the accusations, claiming that her opponents were politicising the tragedy.