Nyamira Governor Amos Nyaribo has been impeached after 23 of the county’s 31 Assembly Members voted to remove him from office.

The impeachment motion, filed by Bonyamatuta Ward MCA Julius Kimwomi Matwere and sponsored by Majority Leader Julius Matwere, cited gross misconduct, abuse of office, and irregular appointments as reasons for the governor’s removal.

This marks the third attempt to oust Nyaribo amid ongoing disagreements over governance in Nyamira.

Members who supported the motion argued that the governor’s actions undermined the integrity of county offices.

The county chief who rose to the seat in late 2020 following the death of his predecessor, John Nyagarama, has in the past twice survived similar attempts, with the accusations mirroring each other in both instances.

In October 2023, the MCAs had sought to impeach Nyaribo on claims of mismanagement, nepotism and failure to attempt statutory deductions, which he survived but left a divided Assembly, which was split in the middle.

There had been leadership conflict in the county with two factions operating different assemblies. For several months, a faction led by ousted speaker Enock Okero conducted their parallel session dubbed Bunge Mashinani from outside the official Assembly chambers.

It took several court cases and interventions to reconcile the MCAs, and with the removal of Okero as speaker upheld by the high court, to have all the MCAs hold one sitting.

Less than a year later, in September 2024, nominated MCA Evans Matunda sponsored a second bid, which was defeated after they failed to reach the threshold of two-thirds.

Twenty-two pro-impeachment MCAs voted but fell short of just one to make it to the threshold required of 23 to send Nyaribo to the Senate for trial.

With three impending by-elections, the Assembly currently has 32 out of the 35 members.

The impeachment comes weeks after the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) raided the governor’s homes and offices over Sh382 million corruption-related investigations.

On Wednesday, October 29 2025, anti-graft sleuths raided the offices and residences of Nyaribo and several senior county officials in connection with the alleged multimillion-shilling graft scandal.

EACC said the raids are part of ongoing investigations into the irregular procurement and award of a Sh 382 million contract for the construction of the Nyamira County Government offices to Spentech Engineering Limited.

The governor has protested the accusations, noting the tender was awarded during the tenure of his predecessor, Nyagarama, and he had nothing to do with it.

EACC listed other persons of interest in the probe, including Lameck Machuki Nyariki, Director of Housing and Physical Planning, Peris Mose, Director of Roads (formerly Head of Procurement), Asberth Maobe, Chief Officer, Finance and Accounting Services and Josphat Oruru, Chief Officer, Roads, Transport & Public Works.

Some 28 MCAs were present in the Assembly when the vote was taken, while 12 kept off. However, speaker Thadeus Nyabaro allowed six of those present to vote on behalf of their absent colleagues to attain the threshold required to send it to the Senate. MCAs disregarded a sworn affidavit by the 12 absentees and voted on behalf of six.