- On Thursday, Tuju wrote to assembly majority leader James Murango dismissing him
- He accused Murango of not waiting for the party to resolve some of the issues the assembly raised
Image: FILE
The decision by Jubilee Party to sack the Kirinyaga county assembly majority leader amid a plot to impeach Governor Anne Waiguru has sparked outrage.
MCAs see the drastic disciplinary step taken by party secretary general Raphael Tuju as a bid to save Waiguru who is facing impeachment on several counts.
The MCAs say the action amounts to intimidation and Tuju should not dictate to the assembly on who should hold what position.
But speaking to the Star, Tuju dismissed the claims, saying his actions were procedural. He cited the Nairobi county case where the party acted the same way to stop the removal of speaker Beatrice Elachi.
“The party is for instilling discipline in the party. If we tell you not to do something and you defy we will deal with you. We choose the leadership as a party, so MCAs can say everything but if you are defying our directives we will deal with you,” Tuju said on phone.
On Thursday, Tuju wrote to assembly majority leader James Murango dismissing him from his position.
He accused Murango of not waiting for the party to resolve some of the issues the assembly had raised against Waiguru.
Tuju noted that some of the complaints by the MCAs against Waiguru were personal while others needed to be resolved through party organs.
He said Murango was part of MCAs, mostly independent, who addressed a press conference when they issued a notice of motion to impeach Waiguru.
“Before we could read the whole dossier and have the tripartite meeting, to our consternation you became part of the cohort of mainly independent MCAs who addressed the mass media on the notice of motion to impeach the governor,” Tuju said.
He added: “It is no longer tenable for you to lead government business in the county assembly. We find this behaviour of refusing to listen to the party headquarters to be gross misconduct as articulated in article 13 of the party constitution.”
Tuju said Murango was at liberty to challenge his action at the ruling party’s dispute resolution committee or the Political Parties Dispute Resolution Committee.
In the impeachment motion filed on Tuesday, the MCAs accuse the governor of gross violation of the Constitution by not delivering the annual state of the county address to the assembly
Waiguru undermined the authority of the county assembly by not submitting county plans and policies for approval and failing to table annual reports on implementation status, they charged.
She is also accused of violating the Public Procurement and Disposal Act and Public Finance and Management Act by establishing an irregular tender evaluation committee composed of her partisan staff one Pauline Kamau and Wayne Gichira who take direct instructions from her.
But on Tuesday, Waiguru dismissed the grounds for her proposed impeachment terming them flimsy.
On the failure to address the assembly, Waiguru said it was not a constitutional requirement but she pointed out she had done so twice since her election in 2017.
Regarding accusations that she pocketed travel allowances despite not traveling, the governor said when she was issued with an imprest and the trip did not materilise she surrendered the money.
And on the allegations that she influenced tenders to be awarded to her friends and relatives, Waiguru said there was no evidence of wrongdoing.
Edited by Henry Makori