Devolution Cabinet Secretary Anne Waiguru Thursday survived imminent impeachment after Speaker of the National Assembly Justin Muturi slammed brakes on a Motion to impeach her. The Motion has been pending in the parliamentary bureaucracy for a fortnight.

 In a one-page letter fired off to the sponsor of Waiguru's impeachment, Mr Alfred Keter (Nandi Hills), Thursday afternoon, the Speaker said Keter had fallen short of the required numbers by eight MPs and therefore there was no way the Motion was going to be introduced in the House. "Please be advised accordingly," the Speaker said in a letter dated October 22, 2015.

 Keter, who had collected 97 signatures, was Thursday told that he only had 80 MPs who backed the removal of the Cabinet Secretary – meaning 17 MPs had backed down from the initiative to kick out the powerful Cabinet Secretary who is a presidential favourite in the 18-member Cabinet. "People have been intimidated, coerced and some have been bribed to pull out.

 Now they have sent me back (to the drawing board), but I have six members who have told me they will sign, and then I will look for two more and will be good to go," Keter told a news conference just moments after a parliamentary orderly handed him the letter sending him back to the drawing board. Stung and still in disbelief, Keter was seen hurriedly moving from MP to MP seeking fresh signatures to bridge the gap.

 He then called a news conference late in the evening to explain what he had gathered as the reasons behind the withdrawal of the signatures. "People have been threatened, they have been intimidated, they have been bribed with a million shillings to withdraw their signatures... I don't know how or where they are getting this money. But I shall not be intimidated. I am pushing ahead. This thing has to be settled in the House because we must fight corruption!" said Keter.

He requires 88 MPs to back him for his Motion to be approved and to consequently get listed on the Order Paper. In the House, the Speaker confessed that he had been flooded with letters from MPs saying they wanted to pull out from Keter's impeachment brigade because they had changed their minds. "Many MPs have requested through letters to the Speaker to remove their signatures from list on a special motion," said the Speaker.

 This is the second time that Waiguru has survived censure in the National Assembly just when MPs were eager to kick her out from the powerful docket over the multimillion scandals at the National Youth Service and the queries on the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS). The Speaker issued new rules on how henceforth impeachment of the Cabinet Secretaries and even the pending one on President Uhuru Kenyatta shall be conducted. Much to the chagrin of the opposition which has been instrumental in getting tainted State officers kicked out, the Speaker said all the motions to impeach State officers must have evidence attached showing grounds of impeachment.

"...averments made in the Special Motions should be accompanied by the necessary evidence including annextures and sworn testimonies in respect of the allegation as may be necessary," said the Speaker. Deputy Minority Leader Jakoyo Midiwo (Gem) said MPs should never be allowed to withdraw their signatures.

"... it looks really bad, it looks suspect and really cheap when a member goes and withdraws their signature from a list," said Midiwo, who described the Speaker's ruling as "curious" at a time when the Opposition was getting ready to impeach the President. Muturi also gave himself the power to determine if the grounds in a Motion to impeach a State officer met the threshold provided in the Constitution. Quoting the rulings of the High Court that have kept Embu Governor Martin Wambora in office even after a double impeachment in the Senate, and another ruling from Nigeria's Judiciary, Muturi said he will reserve the right to determine if an impeachment motion should go on or not as soon as he is "satisfied of the constitutional and evidential propriety".

The second bit where the threshold will be decided is as soon as a special committee to investigate the matter is settled. The Speaker ordered the Procedure and House rules committees to revise the Standing Orders to allow the new rules to take effect. But even so, he said, no member shall be allowed to withdraw their signatures once the Clerk has okayed the Motion.

"for purposes of certainty and good order in the conduct of the business of the House ... no withdrawal of signatures will in future be permitted..." said Muturi.