The Senate has set Wednesday August 27 and Thursday August 28 as the dates to hear and determine charges levelled against Governor Eric Mutai by the County Assembly of Kericho.

The House set the dates after it abandoned the Motion to set up a Special Committee to hear conduct the trial hearings against the Governor.

Majority Leader Aaron Cheruiyot had brought the Motion but it fell through after Minority Leader Stewart Madzayo refused to second it.

The MCAs have levelled three charges against the Governor who will be facing the House for the second time in less than a year.

In the charges read to the House by Speaker Amason Kingi on Wednesday, the Ward representatives accuse Governor Mutai of gross violation of the constitution and other laws, abuse of office and gross misconduct.

The particulars of the charge on the violation of the Constitution that the Governor authorised the misappropriation and misallocation of county finances through fictitious payments for goods, services and works which were never delivered or only partially done totalling Sh 85.7 million. 

This include irregular claims such as the maintenance of 15 residential houses, undelivered agricultural inputs like soya beans and maize germ, and overpriced supplies, including sodas allegedly bought at five hundred shillings per bottle, tissue paper at two thousand seven hundred and fifty shillings per bale, and hand towels at three thousand six hundred shillings a piece. 

Payments amounting to Sh5.1 million were also made to companies without supporting documents, including Mengro Products Limited, Hildama Construction, Brissack Construction, Prospera Ventures and IBM Pro Construction. 

“In some cases, contractors were paid twice from retention accounts for works completed more than five years ago,” states part of the charges as read by Speaker Kingi. 

The MCAs further accuse the Governor of contravening procurement laws by failing to establish tender opening committees, neglecting to seek professional opinions, splitting contracts to avoid open tendering, and failing to conduct market surveys. 

This, the MCAs say, resulted in exorbitant pricing of goods and services, which were often paid for in advance despite the county accumulating pending bills amounting to Sh1.1 billion.

The County Assembly’s Ad Hoc Committee on Alleged Fictitious Payments, in its report tabled in August 2024, confirmed fraudulent documentation, forged signatures and deliberate attempts to cover up theft. 

The Governor is accused of having presided over the misappropriation of over Sh351 million under the National Agricultural Value Chain Development Project (NAVCDP). “Funds intended to support farmers’ cooperatives in all thirty wards were diverted, with only nineteen wards benefiting, and even then, many received only substandard furniture and farm inputs without delivery notes or proof of quality.” Similarly, he also residing over irregularities under the Financing Locally-Led Climate Action (FLOCCA) Fund, where projects were distributed unfairly and based on nepotism. 

The Governor ensured that his home ward of Chemosot alone received projects worth Sh21.7 million, while several other wards received none. 

The Governor is also accused of presiding over the misappropriation of the funds raised for the victims of horrendous Londiani junction accident tragedy in which over Sh9 million of public raised funds were lost. 

He also reneged on his undertaking to implement the Report of the County Assembly’s Ad hoc Committee formed to probe the misappropriation of funds meant for the victims of the accident.

On claims of abuse of office, the MCAs allege that the Governor has engaged in skewed and nepotistic appointments of county employees. 

They claim that the Governor hired his brother as a revenue clerk and confirmed his aide’s wife as a nurse ahead of other long-serving contract nurses who were denied similar opportunities. 

“These appointments were not only irregular but also discriminatory, undermining the values of fairness, equity and integrity in public service,” says the pleadings.

He is also accused of illegally appointing a County Attorney while a substantive office holder was still in place. The appointment was challenged before the Employment and Labour Relations Court which declared it unlawful, unprocedural and unconstitutional, and further ordered the Governor personally to pay costs of Sh2 million.

He is also accused of politicising public recruitment by causing the advertisement of vacancies for doctors, nurses and ECDE teachers despite knowing that the county had no financial capacity to hire such staff. The process was later abandoned.

He also irregularly deployed health staff without any consultation with, or authority of the County Public Service Board, creating confusion and disruption in the delivery of health services.

On the allegation touching on gross misconduct, the Governor is accused of leading an illegal land invasion and acting in contempt of court immediately after assuming office. 

He led a mob to invade private property belonging to Mr Joseah Kiplangat Kogo in Kericho town, tearing down its fence and designating it as a county dumpsite. 

“This was done without the consent of the owner, without approval from the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), without gazettement by the county, and in defiance of a subsisting court order,” MCAs say, noting that the action amounted to contempt of court, blatant disregard for the rule of law, and exposed the county to damages and costs.