Governor Erick Mutai has managed to hold on to his seat following a decisive ruling by the Senate on Friday, August 29, 2025.
Senators dismissed the charges against him and backed his objection to the impeachment, effectively ending the process in his favour.
This marked the second time the governor has survived an attempt to remove him from office through impeachment.In his remarks after the verdict, Mutai acknowledged the challenges he faced during the process but took the opportunity to thank those who supported him throughout.
He praised his legal team led by Katwa Kigen, pointing out that without their effort, the case would have been very difficult to overcome. He also thanked the 18 Kericho Members of the County Assembly who opposed his removal, saying they played a key role in ensuring his voice and that of his supporters were heard.
The governor spoke with humility, admitting that he was not without flaws but insisted that leadership requires unity for the benefit of the people.
He stated that he viewed his survival as a chance for reconciliation and asked county leaders to put aside differences for the sake of development.
Mutai was also candid in his speech, noting that his victory was not just about politics but about what he called vindication.
In his words, “I am not perfect, I have my flaws. But God is a God of second chances and today, the devil has been put to shame.”
This was not the first time Mutai had been in such a position. In October 2024, a similar impeachment motion collapsed after senators found that it had failed to meet the constitutional requirement of a two-thirds majority.
Only 31 members supported the motion then, instead of the required 32, forcing the Senate to dismiss it on procedural grounds.
The latest push to remove him was initiated on August 15, 2025, after 33 out of 47 MCAs in Kericho voted in support of the motion, thereby crossing the required threshold.
The accusations brought against the governor included misconduct, misuse of public funds, questionable staff dismissals, and approval of irregular payments.
During the Senate hearings, however, his legal team questioned the credibility of the electronic voting system used at the Assembly.
Some MCAs testified that they never voted for the impeachment and claimed they had not even been trained on how to use the system.
This cast doubt on the accuracy of the results that were forwarded to the Senate, weakening the case against the governor.
Mutai now faces the task of mending political divisions in Kericho while addressing the concerns that triggered the motions in the first place.
His focus, as he made clear in his speech, will be on bringing together county leadership and delivering services to the people who elected him.
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