Governor Mutai gets Senate nod to present ICT proof in impeachment row

Senate Speaker Amason Kingi has given Kericho Governor Eric Mutai the green light to present digital evidence in his fight against impeachment, after his legal team questioned how the vote was conducted.

Governor Mutai’s lawyer, Katwa Kigen, argued before the Senate that the vote in the County Assembly was flawed, claiming that due process was not observed.

Based on this, he asked the Senate to allow an ICT expert to demonstrate how the vote took place.

“The voting was not procedural,” Kigen told the Senate on Thursday.

The County Assembly opposed the move, insisting that the impeachment process followed all the necessary steps and that the outcome was valid.

As part of the hearing, Kericho County Assembly ICT Director Alfred Korir presented the system audit logs to support the Assembly’s case.

He told the Senate that even the three MCAs who claimed they did not take part in the impeachment vote were actually recorded in the system as having voted.

During his appearance, Senator Danson Mungatana questioned whether the system used by the County Assembly could be fully trusted or if it had loopholes.

Senator Karungo Thang’wa also raised concerns, describing the system used during the vote as a “classic proxy voting system,” suggesting it may have allowed for manipulation.

Senator Abdalla Shakila proposed that the MCAs involved in the vote be brought to the Senate to cast their votes again.

She said this would help determine whether the Assembly truly met the two-thirds requirement needed to remove the governor from office.