KILIFI COUNTY SPEAKER IMPEACHED

Kilifi County Speaker Teddy Mwambire is facing impeachment by Members of the County Assembly over allegations of gross misconduct, sabotage, incompetence, and abuse of office. The impeachment motion was backed by 40 MCAs, while 10 voted against it. Mwambire, a close ally of ODM leader Raila Odinga and the ODM Kilifi branch chairman was ousted following a motion tabled on June 16 by Tezo Ward MCA Thomas Chengo. Chengo, who represents the Pamoja African Alliance(PAA), spearheaded the impeachment, accusing Mwambire of undermining the functions of county assembly committees and disregarding procedural fairness.

One of the main accusations was Mwambire’s alleged violation of Section 36 of the County Assembly Service Act, 2017. In May, he disbanded the County Budget and Appropriations Committee and replaced it with a whole house committee without consulting the affected members. He has also been accused of suspending the Kilifi County Programm-Based Budget Estimates for the 2025/26 financial year, terming it a sign of incompetence and a violation of the constitution. Mwambire was also faulted for compromising the neutrality of his office by actively participating in ODM grassroots elections in Ganze sub county. He unsuccessfully vied for a chairman position and later appealed the results, which according to the MCAs undermined the impartiality required of a Speaker.

The former speaker was expected to respond to the allegations during the debate but failed to appear. Chengo noted that he also snubbed a five-member ad hoc committee formed to investigate the charges against him. There were initial claims that ODM had instructed its MCAs to abstain from the vote, but the party later issued a directive overriding the position and allowing members to participate in the motion. Following the impeachment, Deputy Speaker Naftal Kombo has assumed the role of interim speaker until a permanent replacement is nominated, vetted, and approved.