Kingi gazettes Special Sittings for Guyo’s impeachment trial » Capital News
NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 1 – Senate Speaker Amason Kingi has formally gazetted three special sittings of the Senate to consider the impeachment of Isiolo Governor Abdi Guyo, setting the stage for a dramatic political showdown beginning Tuesday, July 8.
The Senate will conduct the sittings, announced under Gazette Notice No. 8732 published on Tuesday, in plenary on July 8, 9, and 10 from 9am each day in the Senate Chamber.
The proceedings will focus exclusively on the impeachment charges brought against Governor Guyo by the Isiolo County Assembly— in proceedings he viciously fought to cripple in court.
“The business to be transacted at the sittings shall be the investigation of the proposed removal from office by impeachment of Hon. Abdi Ibrahim Hassan, the Governor of Isiolo County,” Kingi’s notice dated July 30 reads.
Senate presses on
The gazettement follows a contentious legal and political standoff, with Governor Guyo having secured High Court orders halting the County Assembly’s impeachment process.
On June 26, Justice Heston Nyaga declared the Assembly’s actions legally null and void, citing a pending petition filed earlier by the Governor.
The judge also found Isiolo County Assembly Speaker Mohammed Roba in contempt and summoned him to appear in court on June 30 to explain the defiance of judicial orders.
Guyo’s legal team has since filed contempt proceedings against both the Speaker and Clerk of the Assembly.
Despite the court’s stance, the Senate has opted to proceed, reviving long-standing tensions between the judiciary and legislature over institutional independence.
Speaker Kingi directed parties to submit their responses by July 4, with the Senate Clerk expected to circulate all filings by July 7.
A Trial in Plenary
In a session on Monday, Minority Leader Stewart Madzayo declined to second a motion tabled by Majority Whip Boni Khalwale proposing a trial by an 11-member special committee.
As a result, the Senate will hear the impeachment in full plenary, making it a high-stakes, high-visibility political event.
Governor Guyo faces multiple charges of gross constitutional violations, abuse of office, financial mismanagement, and misconduct.
Key allegations include:
- 1. Failure to deliver the State of the County Address for three consecutive years.
- 2. Irregular hiring of 36 advisors, 31 Chief Officers, and 2 Deputy County Secretaries—despite Isiolo County having only six departments—resulting in a wage bill far above the legally permitted threshold.
- 3. Appointment of county officers without involving the County Public Service Board.
- 4. Alleged misuse of Sh30 million in bursary funds.
- 5. Issuing irregular contracts and creating job insecurity within county ranks.
- 6. Allegedly making sexist and derogatory remarks against Isiolo Senator Fatuma Dullo, and ethnically divisive statements fueling clan tensions.
- 7. Accusations of absentee leadership, with claims that the governor runs county operations remotely from Nairobi.
Guyo has dismissed the allegations as politically motivated, arguing that due process was flouted and that the impeachment is a product of “malice, mischief, and manipulation.”
Institutional clash
The showdown has reignited debate over the limits of judicial authority in parliamentary processes following Senate’s decision to proceed with the trial.
While the High Court has issued orders invalidating the County Assembly’s actions, the Senate—drawing on prior rulings such as those by former National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi—maintains that Parliamentary proceedings are beyond the reach of court injunctions.
Muturi famously argued that honoring such orders would amount to surrendering the legislature’s autonomy, stating, “Obeying such orders would be idiotic and unreasonable.”