KILIFI — Speaker Teddy Mwambire has been impeached by the Kilifi County Assembly following a decisive vote on Monday evening that accused him of breaching Standing Orders and interfering with the county’s budget process.
A total of 40 Members of County Assembly (MCAs) voted in favor of his removal. Ten opposed the motion, and three abstained. The motion, introduced by Tezo Ward Representative Thomas Chengo, cited misconduct, incompetence, and obstruction of committee work.
Chengo accused the Speaker of unilaterally dissolving the County Budget and Appropriations Committee and replacing it with a Committee of the Whole House, a move he said disrupted budget procedures and overstepped legal boundaries.
Deputy Speaker Naftal Kombo declared the position vacant and took over as Acting Speaker. Kombo will preside over House business until a new Speaker is elected within 21 days, in line with assembly regulations.
The County Assembly Clerk is expected to notify the Clerk of the Senate within 48 hours, although the Senate has no role in speaker impeachments.
Mwambire, who previously served as Member of Parliament for Ganze, did not attend the session. He later told reporters he had already instructed his legal team to contest the impeachment in court. “The Assembly ignored three separate court orders,” he said in a phone interview. “One of those was served at 11:00 a.m. Monday. I’m leaving this to the courts.”
Majority Leader Ibrahim Abdi Athman, also known as Ibrahim Matumbo, said Mwambire’s removal was the result of long-standing grievances. “Today was about confirming his misconduct and voting him out,” Matumbo said. “He has burdened the Assembly both legally and politically. It was time to lift that weight.”
Matumbo denied claims that Governor Gideon Mung’aro influenced the outcome or that MCAs were bribed. Media reports had indicated the legislators arrived at the Assembly in a hired tour bus after staying at a high-end resort reportedly facilitated by a senior county official.
“As MCAs, we also run businesses. We can afford any hotel,” Matumbo said. “Now that we’ve won, I’m taking my team to Tanzania to celebrate.”
The impeachment of Mwambire marks a sharp turn in Kilifi’s county politics and sets off a legal battle that could test the limits of county legislative authority and judicial oversight.
