They say keep your friends close and your enemies closer. This proverbial adage was put to the test at the county assembly on Thursday when the county secretary, Dr Samuel Mwaura, escaped an impeachment motion brought by Members of the County Assembly (MCA).

Those who wanted to see Dr Mwaura given his marching orders had prepared a litany of sins he is alleged to have committed.

Among the issues raised is his alleged involvement in the War Memorial Hospital saga.

It was also claimed that everything that happened at the hospital seemed to have been orchestrated by him.

He is also accused of advising family members with patients at War Memorial to transfer their patients, inspecting the hospital when workers were evicted from the hospital, and of forcibly taking over the institution.

Read: Fresh details emerge on body stolen from Nakuru War Memorial hospital

Having been coiled around with all these allegations, Menengai Ward MCA Wilson Mwangi alias Wa Jeff did not hesitate to bring this before the House and use them as one of the grounds to impeach the county secretary.

"I want my fellow honourable members of this house to support the motion of impeachment of the CS on the grounds of gross violation of the County Administration Act, the Leadership and Integrity Act, violation of the County Assembly Powers and Privileges Act and gross misconduct," Wa Jeff said.

"Dr Mwaura's integrity is questionable. He is the head of the civil service, yet he was the first to organise thugs to terrorise patients and staff at Nakuru War Memorial Hospital. He also tried to prevent the Law Society of Kenya - Rift Valley branch from holding a peaceful protest against the disregard for the rule of law in the War Memorial Hospital case by intimidating them with thugs. As a public official, he violated the rights and fundamental freedoms of these individuals," he said.

Watch: Nakuru MCAs exchange blows as motion to impeach County Secretary flops

In addition to the accusations, Wa Jeff further accused Dr Mwaura for failing to honour invitation to the assembly to respond to the performance on county affairs, describing it as disrespectful.

The motion escalated to MCAs exchanging blows as they tried to defend their positions.

However, the impeachment motion failed after 65 MCAs voted against Speaker Joel Karuri's proposal to set up a select committee to look into the matters brought before the House.

Two MCAs abstained from voting.

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Bret Sanya