Explained: How To Remove CS Moses Kuria From Office

On Tuesday, June 20, the Senate hinted at initiating plans to impeach Trade Cabinet Secretary (CS) Moses Kuria over his utterances against the Kenyan media.

The Senate was reported to be considering a motion by Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna seeking a declaration that Kuria is unfit to hold office over his remarks threatening government officials who place adverts on the Nation Media Group (NMG), a media house which has been victim to the CS's numerous attacks on Twitter.

Sifuna terms Kuria's utterances "concerning," noting that his attacks on NMG amount to an infringement of the Constitution as they go against press freedom, guaranteed under Article 34 of the supreme law.

"...the CS for Investments, Trade and Industry, whose reckless tongue has now reached an unmatched level of infamy in the country, and whose divisive, abusive and demeaning rhetoric continues to cause consternation, Sunday, June 18, 2023, posted on his verified social media handles, in reference to the Nation Media Group that 'Kwa wale xxx(unprintable)wa Aga Khan pale Nation Centre. You can still advertise auctioneers and funeral announcements. We will not stop those," the Deputy Minority Whip's motion read in part.

The censure motion is an official admonishment of a person's character, and if successful, could lead to the process of Kuria's dismissal, a role that rests with the National Assembly. 

"On the same verified social media accounts, CS Kuria posted a screenshot to celebrate a drop in the share price of the Nation Media Group, an indication that Kuria has chosen to run a vendetta against the Nation Media Group for its perceived failure to echo the regime's lies and false promises. An attack on one media house, as history has shown in other jurisdictions, often leads to attacks on press freedom as a whole," Sifuna added. 

The Kenya Media Sector Working Group (KMSWG) on the same day revealed that it wants the court to declare CS Kuria unfit to hold public office.

"We already have a court process that will start anytime today so that some people in the Kenya Kwanza government can be declared unfit to hold a public office. 

"We will be going to court under Chapter 6 of the Constitution so that the court can declare some leaders in the Kenya Kwanza administration unfit to hold public office based on the utterances that have been attributed to them," Kenya Union of Journalists (KUJ) Secretary General Eric Oduor addressed.

However, both parties should be aware that the process of impeaching a Cabinet Secretary through Parliament is a long and tough one, and it has never been successfully done in the process since the promulgation of the Kenyan Constitution (2010).

Process Of Impeaching A Cabinet Secretary

The Kenyan Constitution, under Article 152, however, grants the President sweeping powers to appoint, reassign or dismiss a CS at will.

The Article under Clause 6 gives an elaborate procedure the Parliament can use in kicking out a CS over any gross violation of the Constitution, a crime under national or international law, and gross misconduct.

In any event the CS is found to have violated any of the above, a member of the National Assembly, supported by at least one-quarter of all the members of the Assembly, may propose a motion requiring the President to dismiss a Cabinet Secretary, that is a threshold of 88 MPs to support the proposal of a motion to dismiss the CS.

Once the motion is proposed, the MP would need the backing of 117 of his or her fellow lawmakers to advance to the next stage of establishing a special committee of 11 MPs to investigate the matter. The select committee should, within 10 days, report to the Assembly whether it finds the allegations against the Cabinet Secretary to be substantiated.

The whole House must then take a vote on the impeachment motion. If Moses Kuria gets to this stage, he will have the right to appear and be represented before the select committee during its investigations.

If the select committee reports that it finds the allegations unsubstantiated, no further proceedings should occur. However, if the committee finds the allegations substantiated, the National Assembly should accord CS Kuria an opportunity to be heard and vote on whether to approve the resolution requiring the dismissal of a Cabinet Secretary.

If a majority of the members of the National Assembly support a resolution requiring CS Kuria's impeachment, then Speaker Moses Wetangula must immediately write to President William Ruto on the resolutions of the House.

The Head of State will then use powers provided in Article 154 Clause 6(c) to dismiss the CS. The CS can however remain in office if the allegations against them are unsubstantiated.

CS Moses Kuria has been on the spot over reckless public remarks that also included the presence of China Square in Nairobi, GMO foods and the ongoing war in Sudan, where he urged the African Union (AU) to invade the country and "bomb Khartoum to smithereens."