Senate Standing Committee on Energy chaired by Nyeri Senator Wahome Wamatinga today met with Africa Smart Meters Association led by its chairman Charles Kaloki and Secretary General James Ngomeli.

Mr. Kaloki said that most of the so-called manufacturers in the industry are actually assemblers, with a low percentage of local content, which limits job generation. 

The local smart meter companies illustrate the current landscape of assembly-focused operations rather than true manufacturing in the smart metering sector.

The Senate has upheld the impeachment Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua by the National Assembly and voted to remove him from office.

The outcome of the vote, taken late in the night, is the first time in the history of Kenya that the holder of the Office of the Deputy President has ceased to hold office through a trial borne out of impeachment proceedings.

The 67 lawmakers of the Senate found the DP guilty on five grounds but absolved him on six charges. 

Hon Mwengi Mutuse, the sponsor of the Special Motion that saw Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua impeached by the National Assembly, has told the Senate that he is not an investigator and his aim is to subject the country’s second in command to take political responsibility for his action.

The Member of Parliament told the House that the purpose of his push to have the Deputy President removed from Office was neither to prove criminal or civil culpability.

The National Assembly is expected to continue prosecuting its case against Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua this morning, on the second day of the hearing on his impeachment trial.

Speaker Amason Kingi adjourned the hearing on the first day, Wednesday 16 October, after the National Assembly called two of its four witnesses.

The first witness to take the stand was Hon Mwengi Mutuse, the Kibwezi West MP, who was the mover of the Motion followed by Dr Andrew Mulwa who briefly served as the acting CEO of the Kenya Medical Supplies Agency (KEMSA).

Senate Speaker Amason Kingi has dismissed a preliminary objection filed by the Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua in which he sought to bar Senior Counsel James Orengo from representing the National Assembly in his impeachment trial.

Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has objected to a request by the National Assembly to have senior officials in the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) saying the request will irredeemably prejudice the trial against him.

The Deputy President said the request was against the provisions of Article 25 of the constitution on fair trial and wondered why neither the EACC nor the Directorate of Criminal Investigations had been invited to investigate some of the criminal allegations levelled against him in the trial.