Council of Governors chair blames toxic county politics for removal attempts

Council of Governors Chairperson and Wajir Governor Ahmed Abdullahi has criticised the growing trend of impeachment motions against county chiefs, warning that the practice has become politically driven rather than a tool of accountability.

In an interview on Tuesday, September 2, Abdullahi said governors remain vulnerable because their offices lack political protection, unlike other leaders who enjoy the backing of political parties.

“The office of the governor does not have a lot of protection because of the disconnect between the political party system and the governors. Political parties believe that members of parliament are more useful because they pass bills for them,” Abdullahi said.

He noted that even governors belonging to majority parties are often left exposed when their own parties decline to shield them during removal attempts.
“That is why you will find a governor who is being impeached by a majority party to which he belongs, yet the party does not intervene,” he stated.

Abdullahi insisted that impeachment should only serve as a last resort.
“Impeachments should be a safety valve when things don’t work; it shouldn’t be the first arsenal that you throw at someone,” he said.

The Wajir governor further argued that county leaders are constantly under scrutiny by independent agencies such as the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), even though counties control only a fraction of the national budget.

“There is so much focus on the counties, and I think this is the problem that we have with the independent offices and commissions. They think that they have been set up to just oversight county governments,” Abdullahi remarked.

He lamented that while most cases against governors collapse in court, the process leaves lasting damage.
“So many governors have been taken to court, but a lot of the time, the court throws out those cases. They are rushed, and some of them are very flimsy,” he said.

Abdullahi also questioned the clarity of laws guiding removal from office.
“We don’t even have a threshold for abuse of office, gross misconduct, and violating the Constitution? Even lawyers don’t agree whether impeachment is a legal or political process,” he noted.

According to him, most motions stem from political disputes rather than actual wrongdoing.
“A lot of these impeachments have got to do with the toxic politics in our counties; there are factional struggles, succession plan issues, and it is not always about mismanagement,” Abdullahi added.

The remarks come at a time when impeachment cases against governors and deputies are on the rise, raising concerns about the stability of devolved governments. Since 2013, the Senate has handled 19 impeachment hearings, eight of them in the past three years alone.

Last week, senators considered the case against Kericho Governor Eric Mutai for the second time in under a year. A month earlier, they dealt with an impeachment attempt against Isiolo Governor Abdi Guyo, which was dismissed on technical grounds.

In most instances, MCAs cite corruption, intimidation, abuse of office, and gross violation of the Constitution as grounds for removal. Governors, however, blame hostile assemblies, extortion, and political rivalry for the wave of motions.

The growing friction has put county leadership under a sharp spotlight, with oversight reports from the Auditor General, Controller of Budget, Senate, and assemblies exposing widespread graft, weak financial management, and declining service delivery in devolved units.