Embattled Wajir governor Mohamed Abdi now says he is the legitimate county governor and will in the next few days assume duties as directed by the High court based in Meru.

In a press Statement to the Media, Mohamud said his impeachment by the county Assembly was unlawful and unconstitutional and outlined that the judgment delivered on Wednesday will go a long way in establishing and guiding the Senate on proper conduct of impeachment proceedings to avoid victimisation of governors and fair application of the law.

“This Landmark Judgment issued yesterday will go a long way in guiding County Assemblies and the Senate on how to properly conduct impeachment proceedings and to avoid victimizing Governors through the application of the law of the jungle.” he said.

He underscored that he will remain the governor of Wajir until the transition period is over and will hence embark on the process of receiving hand- over reports from the different county departments and urged CECs and Chief Officers to prepare the departmental reports in a bid to facilitate the transition process.

“As confirmed by the judges, my impeachment was unlawful and unconstitutional. Subsequently, I remain the Governor of Wajir County and will henceforth embark on a process of receiving hand-over reports from the respective departments of the County government during the transitional period. I therefore, expect departmental reports by CECs and Chief Officers to be prepared in time to ease the process of transition period as stated by the Court.” said Mohamud

He further called on the National Treasury, the Controller of Budget and Central Bank
to meanwhile temporarily freeze all expenditure by the county government pending the scrutiny of hand- over reports and preliminary audits of projects in the last nine months he was out of office.

“During this transition period, I urge, the National Treasury, the Controller of Budget and Central bank of Kenya to temporarily freeze all expenditure by the County Government of Wajir pending scrutiny of the hand-over reports and preliminary audits of projects. The objective of this request is to preserve public funds and resources. I will also be calling for my first Cabinet meeting on 11th March 2022 to coordinate issues and ensure service delivery to the people is done as required by law” said Abdi

Abdi eventually thanked the Judiciary for expediting the case despite several hiccups that threatened the process and for setting a precedent on the grounds of a removal of a governor from office.

“Further, I want to thank the judiciary for speedily concluding the case despite numerous challenges and more importantly in setting an important threshold for the removal of a Governor from office; which is a major win for not only the people of Wajir and a milestone victory for all the current and future Kenya Governors who might face similar political antagonism.” said Mohamud.

Mohamud went to court last year to seek a redress from the decision by the County Assembly and the Senate to impeach him.

Abdi was removed from office on allegations of abuse of office, gross misconduct and financial impropriety.