Jubilee yesterday removed the four rebel chairmen of House committees in an acrimonious but ruthlessly executed scheme.
MPs Silas Tiren (Marakwet East), Moiben’s Kangogo Bowen, James Gakuya (Embakasi East) and Alfred Keter (Nandi Hills) were all removed in a choreographed no-confidence motions by the committees. They were elected on December 20.
Fresh elections to fill their positions will be conducted in a week’s time.
Keter immediately blamed their removal on cartels he claimed were hell-bent on perpetuating corruption.
“It is unfortunate that cartels are using the Presidency to crown puppets to run specific committees so that they have their way in looting public resources,” Keter said.
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But National Assembly Majority Leader Aden Duale, who personally planned the removal of Keter, said immediately the mission was accomplished and that the objective of the party had been achieved.
“We will not allow any of our members to disenfranchise the rank and file of our members, “
Duale said.
“When we were deciding on the men and women to take what position, it was not based on qualification but on the principle of equity. Each county, where we have MPs, produced at least one chair or vice chair,” he added.
Keter was elected chairman of the Labour and Social Welfare Committee against Bura MP Ali Wario, Tiren beat Mandera South MP Adan Haji for Agriculture committee chairmanship while Gakuya was elected Parliamentary Broadcasting Services leader, all against the wishes of Jubilee.
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The four schemed with the committee members to defeat the party’s line up during the initial election. Their defiance irked the party leadership, which de-whipped them. They then rushed to the High Court and obtained restraining orders.
The four also defied directives by Deputy President William Ruto and snubbed an invitation to a State House meeting called to force them to resign last week.
Keter said Jubilee members of the committees, National Assembly
Speaker Justin Muturi, Majority leader Aden Duale, Majority whip Benjamin Washiali and clerk Michael Sialai met Uhuru Kenyatta and Ruto at State House, Nairobi, where they plotted their removal.
He accused President Uhuru of trampling on the independence of Parliament by intimidating Jubilee MPs to
eject them.
“The Speaker, who is supposed to be independent, attended the State House meeting joined by the clerk. That is why the clerk could not allow us to use the secret ballot during the vote of no confidence as provided for in the Constitution,” Keter said.
The MP maintained he is still the chairperson of the Labour committee, arguing that the grounds raised by the party leadership were not directly levelled against him but on regional balance.
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“We are not going to relent because we are still the substantive chairs of the committees. The purported vote of no confidence did not happen because the law was not followed. The Labour committee cannot balance Kenya,” he said.
He was accompanied by Tiren, who was also ousted as chairman of Agriculture Committee in another meeting. Washiali was present when Kangogo Bowen was removed as the vice chair of Environment and Natural Resources Committee.
Gakuya also lost the chairmanship of the Parliamentary Broadcasting and Library Committee.
“It is clear in our minds, because we are in our right senses, that Parliament has been turned into an annex of the Executive,” he said.
“Today marks the start of the fight for democracy. It is sad that members of this House presided over a collapse of an independent institution.”