More Problems for Governors in New Impeachment Proposal

The Association of Public Sector General Suppliers made a significant announcement on Monday.

They revealed their intentions to draft a proposal aimed at modifying existing legislation to facilitate the impeachment of Governors and other county officials who neglect their obligations to pay outstanding bills owed to suppliers.

According to the association’s official statement, the proposed amendment would entail the removal of Governors, County Executive Committee (CEC) members, and Chief Officers (COs) whose pending bills exceed 20% of their allocated budgets.

“The association is committed to contributing to the discussion, advocating for the impeachment of any Governor, CO, or CEC member with pending bills exceeding 20% of their budget allocation on grounds of economic sabotage,” hinted the suppliers.

The Impeachment Bill, forwarded for publication, is set to be subject to public participation before it can advance to the next appropriate stages.

“This bill seeks to provide for the procedure of the removal from the office of a County Governor, Deputy, CEC, County secretary, and Speaker of the County Assembly. Just to make the process cleaner and fair,” the Senator said in a statement.

Senator Thang’wa, through the proposed legislation, is seeking to address what he describes as the lack of a comprehensive framework for the removal of the four categories of county state officers.

This comes even at a time when suppliers have been increasingly complaining about unpaid pending bills.

According to a Cabinet dispatch dated June 27, county governments had accumulated a whooping Ksh 159.9 billion worth of pending bills.

Due to this niggling problem, the Cabinet resolved to establish a special committee tasked with auditing liabilities in relation to pending bills.

”The Committee will consist of the Attorney General, the State Department of Roads, the State Department of Public Works, the State Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority,” the cabinet statement stated.

According to the Controller of Budget, Dr. Margaret Nyakang’o, Nairobi County had accumulated the largest amount of pending bills at Ksh100.36 billion.