With plans underway for the swearing-in of incoming Meru Governor Isaac Mutuma M’Ethingia on Monday, March 17, 2025, these are some of the things you need to know about the man.
Deputy Governor
Mutuma is the current Deputy Governor of Meru County, having been elected on a joint independent ticket with Kawira Mwangaza in 2022.
Mutuma and Kawira floored seasoned politicians, including then UDA candidate Mithika Linturi and former Meru governor Kiraitu Murungi, after they garnered 209,148 votes against Linturi’s 183,859 votes and Murungi’s 110,814 votes.
He is poised to take over the leadership of the volatile Meru County, whose Members of the County Assembly (MCAs) have already filed impeachment and censure motions against eight of Kawira’s County Executive Committee Members (CECMs).
Man of cloth
Just like his predecessor Kawira, Mutuma is a reverend who has served in the Methodist Church of Kenya in different areas.
The duo was elected in a major upset in Meru County, partly as a result of the honesty and forthrightness that they displayed among the electorate and their previous track record in the community.
They cut the image of being more compatible, given their various points of convergence in religiosity and involvement in pertinent community initiatives.
Senior prison officer
Before his stab at politics, Mutuma was a senior officer at the Kenya Prisons Service. While serving at the prisons, he was the Human Rights Officer and Inmate Rehabilitation Programme Implementer within the prison services.
Mutuma started out as a junior prison officer before rising through the ranks to seniority, where he could influence policy and advocacy for the rights of inmates and their living conditions.
Education
The incoming Meru governor is pursuing a master’s degree in governance and ethics at Mount Kenya University.
He also holds a bachelor’s degree in theology from the Kenya Methodist University and a higher diploma in forensic psychology and criminology from the Kenya Institute of Studies in Criminal Justice.
Other work experiences
Apart from working in government circles, Mutuma has also made his mark with charitable organizations, having served as a Child Rights Advocate with Plan International and as the chairman of several esteemed institutions, as well as becoming the Youth Representative for Habitat for Humanity in the Mount Kenya Region.
According to the Constitution, the Deputy Governor is mandated to automatically assume office for the remainder of the term should the office of the governor fall vacant by way of an impeachment.
“If a vacancy occurs in the office of county governor, the deputy county governor shall assume office as county governor for the remainder of the term of the county governor,” Article 182 (2) of the Constitution states.
Kawira Mwangaza’s impeachment was upheld by a High Court in Nairobi on Friday, March 14, 2025, after her petition challenging the impeachment motion ratified by the Senate was thrown out.
Kawira had filed the petition to challenge her impeachment by the Senate on grounds that the process violated various constitutional provisions.
She argued that the impeachment did not meet the constitutional threshold and that it was conducted in defiance of a valid court order.
However, the Senate Speaker defended the impeachment process, saying they followed due process, the charges met the constitutional threshold, and the governor was accorded a fair hearing.
In its findings, the High Court averred that the Senate did not act in deliberate defiance of the court order issued by the High Court sitting in Meru.
