NAIROBI, Kenya – Impeachment proceedings against Kericho Governor Erick Mutai will be heard by the full Senate after an attempt to form a special committee to probe the case collapsed on Wednesday.
Senate Majority Leader Aaron Cheruiyot had sought to establish an 11-member committee to investigate the charges against the governor, but his motion failed to attract a seconder.
Speaker Amason Kingi consequently ruled that the matter would proceed to plenary hearings under Section 33A of the County Governments Act.
“The Senate will proceed to investigate the proposed removal from office by impeachment of Honourable Erick Mutai, Governor of Kericho County, in plenary,” Kingi told senators.
Timeline for the hearings
The Senate Business Committee has already outlined the framework for the process.
Parties to the impeachment will be invited to appear before the House on Thursday, August 21.
They must file their responses by Monday, August 25, after which senators will receive all documents and a programme schedule on Tuesday, August 26.
The hearings will take place from Wednesday, August 27, to Friday, August 29, 2025.
Allegations facing Governor Mutai
Governor Mutai was impeached by the Kericho County Assembly on August 15 over accusations of gross violation of the Constitution, abuse of office, and financial impropriety.
Among the claims is the alleged misappropriation of Sh85.7 million through fictitious or irregular payments for undelivered goods, inflated items — including sodas bought at Sh500 per bottle and tissue paper at Sh2,750 per bale — and duplicate payments to contractors.
He is also accused of diverting over Sh351 million from the National Agricultural Value Chain Development Project, with some wards receiving substandard farm inputs without proper documentation.
Further charges include irregularities in the Locally Led Climate Action Fund, where projects worth Sh21.7 million were concentrated in his home ward while others received none; misuse of Sh39 million to launch an unapproved youth programme, the Equaliser Kazi Mtaani Initiative; and irregular payments for stalled projects such as the Sh8.5 million upgrade of Kunyak Dispensary.
The Assembly also cited alleged nepotism, including the hiring of his brother as a revenue clerk and the appointment of his aide’s wife as a nurse.
Mutai is further accused of arbitrarily dismissing senior county officials and flouting employment laws, including the controversial appointment of a county attorney that was later nullified by the courts.
The Senate’s three-day hearings will determine whether Mutai is removed from office or survives the charges.
His case adds to a string of recent county-level impeachments that have tested the balance between devolution, accountability, and political power struggles.
