• Senator Linturi who leans to Tangatanga faction said essence of the Political Parties Act was being eroded and urged Kenyans to be on the lookout.
• He said political parties were fast losing the convictions for which they were formed and have become personal property of party leaders.
Image: FILE
A day after Jubilee deputy secretary general Caleb Kositany was stripped of that position, Senator Mithika Linturi on Tuesday said MPs' loyalty should lie first and foremost with their constituents.
The Meru lawmaker leans toward the Jubilee faction allied to Deputy President William Ruto and said members should not be forced to be loyal to the party.
The intention and essence of the Political Parties Act is slowly being eroded and Kenyans should be vigilant, Linturi said.
He said political parties were fast losing the convictions for which they were formed and were fast becoming the personal fiefdoms of party leaders.
Speaking to Citizen TV on Tuesday morning, the senator said Parliament was losing its independence and failing to play its its watchdog role. Instead, he said, the Executive tells MPs how to vote on issues of interest to State House.
"Parliament is dead and can no longer exercise proper overnight," he said.
The topic was Parliament's independence. He was joined by Public Accounts Committee chairman, Ugunja MP Opiyo Wandayi, nominated Senator Silvia Mueni Kasanga and Baringo Woman Representative Gladwell Cheruyiot — all with different takes.
Linturi was the most outspoken. He condemned the handshake between President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM leader Raila Odinga, saying it had killed the opposition.
"Why go to election after every five years, then the winning party that forms government decides to unite with the opposition?" he quipped.
Linturi suggested that in future, coalitions between political parties should be formed before elections.
He defended UDA, a party associated with the DP, saying it was amongst affiliate parties within the Jubilee coalition and those linked to it should not be targeted.
"Kenyans must be on the lookout. Political parties were meant to be institutions to acquire power, with ideology and should carry the aspirations of Kenyans. They were not supposed to be about individuals ," the senator said.
He said it was shocking that MPs contribute to their parties but don't have a say in their funds' management.
"The National Governing Councils of these parties wield enormous powers that need to be checked," Linturi said.
He accused lawmakers from ODM of illegally enjoying positions in Parliament, due to the handshake, which he described just a political goodwill gesture.
"The leadership of the various committees in Parliament was reserved for MPs from the Jubilee Party," Linturi said.
The inclusion of MPs from the opposition into the leadership of committees has weakened the opposition, which now cannot play its role," he said.
But Public Accounts Committee chairman, Ugunja MP Opiyo Wandayi, disagreed.
He said the current constitutional order doesn't recognise the opposition but envisages majority and minority sides in Parliament.
The MP said that nothing should stop a member of the minority from chairing any parliamentary committee and therefore, there's no illegality in having them in those committees. "Oversight role is for all MPs equally," Wandayi said.
"It is not a preserve of the minority side. I invite our brothers from the Tangatanga brigade to pick up the mantle and correct the government when they deem it necessary. We have left the street fight against the government and we now can talk to each other, thanks to the handshake," he said.
During the show, Linturu said parties run for election to form government and the ones that lose are deemed to be in opposition.
"I took part in the writing of the Political Parties Act. Parties have become the personal property of party leaders who nominate people who can't vote independently in Parliament," he said.
Linturi called them voting machines.
"People are being threatened by the leadership of parties and many are being kicked out. We are forced to be loyal to party and not the people who elect us," he said.
Nominated Senator Silvia Mueni Kasanga said oversight is for all MPs. "We cannot say the parliamentary role has been weakened by the handshake. We have, for example, prosecuted the issue of debt ceiling . We are serving robustly," she said.
Commenting Kositany's removal, Baringo Woman Representative Gladwell Cheruyiot said it is up to Jubilee to put its house in order.
"We in Kanu don't care about what is happening. Some of these political parties wanted some dominance and their principals are forcing loyalty at whatever means. Some parties are gaging their members," she said.
She suggested Parliament should amend parts of the Political Parties Act that they consider offensive and promote party dictatorship.
"However, party discipline should be important. It is immoral to shortchange the party you rode on to Parliament on," she said.
(Edited by V. Graham)