Nyamira Governor Nyaribo impeached: MCAs’ vote has finally toppled Amos Nyaribo from power after a dramatic third attempt, with 23 out of 31 county assembly members backing a motion citing gross misconduct, abuse of office, and irregular appointments in a session that exposed raw divisions in the Gusii heartland.
The ouster, sealed in a tense plenary at the Nyamira County Assembly chambers, marks a stunning reversal for the 52-year-old UPA stalwart who survived razor-thin escapes in 2023 and 2024, triggering outrage among President Ruto’s Rift Valley coalition and thrusting the matter to the Senate for final reckoning.
The motion, tabled by fiery Bonyamatuta Ward MCA Julius Kimwomi Matwere on November 17, painted Nyaribo as a serial offender in a 15-page indictment that read like a prosecutor’s closing argument.
MCAs accused him of flouting the Constitution by assenting to the 2024 Supplementary Appropriation Bill without assembly approval, a move Matwere branded “a blatant disregard for the rule of law”.
They piled on charges of nepotistic hires, including the unlawful formation of a Public Service Board panel during a disputed speaker’s tenure, and failure to deliver annual State of the County addresses for two fiscal years – acts that allegedly starved oversight and ballooned unchecked spending to KSh 382 million in dubious tenders now under EACC scrutiny.
“His continued tenure is a catastrophic risk to Nyamira’s future,” Matwere thundered, his voice echoing off the chamber’s wooden benches as allies nodded solemnly.
The vote itself unfolded like a high-stakes poker game. With 31 MCAs present – down from 32 due to a pending by-election – Nyaribo needed just 10 defections to survive, but loyalty crumbled.
Twenty-three backed removal, eight opposed, and four abstained, clearing the two-thirds threshold under Article 181 of the Constitution.
Speaker Thaddeus Nyabaro, a Nyaribo critic since the 2024 speaker wars, banged the gavel at 3:15 p.m., declaring the motion carried amid cheers from the majority bloc and stony silence from the governor’s camp.
Nyaribo, absent but represented by lawyers, fired off a preemptive High Court petition hours later, seeking to halt Senate proceedings on grounds of procedural flaws – a tactic that worked twice before.
This isn’t Nyaribo’s first rodeo with the assembly’s guillotine. In September 2023, 16 MCAs pushed for his head over alleged mismanagement and unremitted deductions, but 18 voted no, sparing him by a whisker.
A year later, in September 2024, 22 backed ouster amid payroll audit scandals, but 12 held firm, and zero abstentions meant survival by one vote.
Those near-misses, fuelled by court rulings invalidating rival speaker Enock Okero’s actions, eroded Nyaribo’s grip, leaving him isolated in a house now dominated by anti-administration rebels.
“We’ve been patient too long; Nyamira bleeds from his misrule,” said Matwere post-vote, flanked by jubilant MCAs toasting with soda outside. The fallout rippled instantly.
In Nyansiongo’s tea stalls, traders like 48-year-old mama mboga Everlyne Kerubo tallied the chaos: “Roads unfinished, hospitals without drugs – impeach him yesterday!” she vented, her stall empty from a morning boycott called by women’s groups.
Ruto’s UDA, already bruised by Mt Kenya fractures, dispatched envoys to rally senators, fearing a domino effect on loyalists like Meru’s Mithika Linturi.
Gachagua, ever the opportunist, reposted the vote with a smirking emoji: “Kazi ianze” (Let work begin). Nyaribo, holed up in his Kisii residence, decried the vote as “a witch hunt by EACC puppets”, linking it to his backing of Fred Matiang’i’s 2027 bid.
His allies, a dwindling nine MCAs, vow Senate salvation, citing past acquittals. But with 47 upper house members – many Ruto sceptics – the odds tilt against potentially installing Deputy Governor Evans Nyagaka as acting chief by December if upheld.
Nyamira, a lush tea-and-banana enclave of 600,000 souls, simmers under the weight. EACC’s October raid on county offices unearthed graft trails, while stalled projects like the KSh 500 million water scheme leave taps dry.
“We’ve impeached for change, not chaos,” Matwere assured reporters, but whispers of retaliation loom – parallel assemblies, court stays, and even violence in by-election shadows.
As rain pattered on Nyamira’s tin roofs Monday evening, the assembly’s bells tolled like a funeral knell. Nyamira Governor Nyaribo’s impeached MCAs vote isn’t mere political theatre; it’s a reckoning for devolution’s promise, a test if Gusii’s green hills can bloom anew from ousted roots.
