Isaac MutumaIsaac Mutuma has been sworn in as the new Meru County Governor replacing impeached Kawira Mwangaza.
The swearing-in ceremony was held at Mwendantu grounds in Meru on Monday.
This comes after the impeachment of Mwangaza was upheld by the senate, a ruling that was later suspended and upheld by the High Court.
A section of leaders who attended the event include Water CS Eric Muga, Cooperatives PS Patrick Kiburi, Deputy Laikipia Governor Reuben Kamuri among other leaders.
In a judgment delivered on Friday, March 14, Justice Bahati Mwamuye ruled that the petition challenging Mwangaza’s removal did not meet the legal threshold to overturn the Senate’s decision.
The judge affirmed that Mwangaza was accorded a fair hearing and dismissed her plea to invalidate the gazette notice confirming her removal.
Mutuma was elected as Meru deputy governor in the 2022 polls alongside Mwangaza without being sponsored by any political party.
They cruised to victory, crushing political titans in Meru including then-Governor Kiraitu Murungi and his predecessor Peter Munya.
Before his election, Mutuma served as a senior officer in the Kenya Prisons Service and worked as a Reverend in the Methodist Churches of Kenya.
He holds a Higher Diploma in Forensic Psychology and Criminology from the Kenya Institute of Studies in Criminal Justice, as well as a Bachelor's Degree in Theology from Kenya Methodist University.
Some 26 senators, on August 21, 2024, voted to uphold the first charge on gross violation of the constitution and other laws.
Some 14 senators abstained, while four voted in her favour.
On the second charge of gross misconduct, 26 senators voted in favour of her impeachment, two against, while 14 others abstained.
27 senators upheld the charge of abuse of office, one voted against, and 14 abstained.
Most of those who abstained are allied to the Opposition parties.
This was Mwangaza's third impeachment to reach the Senate since she was elected into office in August 2022.
The first impeachment hearing was heard and determined by a committee, but the second and third went the plenary way.
