NAIROBI, Kenya – Kericho Governor Erick Mutai on Wednesday defended himself before the Senate, dismissing his impeachment by the county assembly as a politically orchestrated plot to hound him out of office.
Appearing before senators during his impeachment trial, Mutai argued that the charges against him were “faulty, malicious, and timed to achieve political ends.”
“With a lot of humility, I wish to state before this honorable House that the report on the fictitious payments was handed to me by the county assembly after my impeachment had already been tabled,” he told the Senate. “How then was I expected to act on it when the motion was already before the House?”
Mutai accused the county assembly leadership of undermining due process by relying on disputed reports touching on the National Agricultural Value Chain Development Project (NAVCDP), the Financing Locally-Led Climate Action (FLLoCCA) project, and alleged fictitious payments.
On the Londiani disaster fund inquiry, he said the assembly unfairly sought to hold him accountable despite a court ruling affirming no funds were lost and the matter having been managed by officers who have since left office.
The governor claimed his removal bid was driven by “political expediency,” pointing fingers at the Kericho County Assembly Speaker, whom he accused of harboring gubernatorial ambitions.
“At the county assembly, we also have a speaker whose interest is to be the governor of Kericho. How then do you become the governor? Impeach the governor, impeach the deputy governor, and pave the way,” he said.
In a dramatic appeal, Mutai drew from classic literature to describe his ordeal as political betrayal.
Citing Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment and Shakespeare’s Macbeth, he warned against what he termed a “political murder” of elected leaders through flawed impeachment processes.
“I implore upon the county assembly of Kericho that, as much as we may have political aspirations, let us resist the temptation of political murder for the sake of ambition,” he said.
Mutai insisted he had no role in authorising fraudulent payments or mismanaging county programmes, saying culpable officers should be held individually accountable.
“As governor of Kericho, I stand before you under your mercy, Mr Speaker and honorable senators, so that justice may be served not just for me but for the people of Kericho,” he concluded.
The Senate will determine whether to uphold or overturn the county assembly’s decision to impeach Mutai.
