• Buuri MP Rindikiri Mugambi said powerful Ruto allies were removed from House committee positions under the guise of poor performance of their responsibilities as expected by the Jubilee Party.
• But the two who replaced them have proved to be incompetent
An ally of Deputy President William Ruto has demanded the immediate resignation of Senate Majority Whip Irungu Kang’ata and Majority Leader Samuel Poghisio.
Buuri MP Rindikiri Mugambi said powerful Ruto allies were removed from House committee positions under the guise of poor performance of their responsibilities as expected by the Jubilee Party.
But the two who replaced them have proved to be incompetent.
He said Kang’ata and Poghisio had let down the country especially Mt Kenya counties.
Poghisio replaced Ruto ally Senator Kipchumba Murkomen of Elgeyo Marakwet.
He said there will be no Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) if the 'one man, one vote, one shilling' revenue sharing formula for the counties fails to pass in the Senate.
Mugambi spoke after issuing 1,344 licences to boda boda riders.
Mt Kenya leaders have maintained a one-vote-one-shilling approach in resources allocation for county governments.
Mugambi said one could not compare some of the Northeastern counties which received a lot of money whereas they have small populations.
“The government gets a lot of revenue from Buuri but we receive peanuts in funds allocations. This must end. We demand one man, one vote, and one shilling formula. The Senate is currently handled by clueless leaders who can’t handle the impasse. Some counties like Turkana return their funds to Treasury. If the Revenue Equalization Fund Bill fails, Kang’ata and Poghisio must immediately resign,” he said.
He said it was wrong for the President to punish perceived Ruto allies by removing them from chairing committees.
“I support Ruto and I make it clear that I was elected by Buuri people to serve them, not to cling into committees. If what will help our people cannot be passed, then we won’t support BBI,” the MP said.
The proposed revenue formula will hit hard the underdeveloped but sparsely populated counties. More densely populated counties like in Central will get more money.
Edited by Henry Makori