•Mbadi and Kimunya have clashed over the composition and leadership of the house panels.
•The Suba South MP opposed the membership of Education and Finance Committees, saying they doubted some of those proposed to sit in them would support ODM members as chairs of the panel.
Image: FILE
The battle for parliamentary committees has posed a tough challenge for Jubilee and ODM as they seek to balance their individual interests and safeguarde the ‘handshake.’
The parties have clashed over the composition and leadership of the house panels, but were quick to downplay any division in an apparent attempt to protect the truce between President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM chief Raila Odinga.
Jubilee and ODM have been working together in and out of Parliament since the March 9, 2018, handshake.
Last week, V differed over proposed names fronted to sit in some influential house committees.
Mbadi rejected a list presented by Kimunya arguing that some of the proposals did not take into account ODM as well as the envisioned reform agenda.
Both Mbadi and Kimunya moved fast to dismiss any rift between the parties that could jeopardise the handshake.
“People should not read too much into this. There is nothing like Uhuru team, Raila team have disagreed,” Mbadi, an ally of ODM boss Raila Odinga, said.
Kimunya also denied the existence of a division, reiterating that the "perceived" clash was a "normal occurrence during committee formations."
“I am not aware of any clash. ODM are populating their committees and we are populating ours, so where will the clash come from?” he asked.
Last week, Mbadi opposed a list forwarded by Kimunya seconding members to the Justice and Legal Affairs, Delegated Legislation and the get and Appropriations committees, forcing Kimunya to withdraw the list.
He said some of some of the members proposed for the panels were not committed to the Building Bridges Initiative agenda.
“We have the BBI agenda ahead of us. And the BBI agenda requires people who are committed to this process because most of us in Parlaiament are committed to the BBI agenda,” Mbadi said in Homa Bay at the weekend.
He added, “When I looked at the list of Jubilee, there are those who are not committed to the BBI process.”
The Suba South MP opposed the membership of Education and Finance Committees, saying they doubted some of those proposed to sit in them would support ODM members as chairs of the panel.
“There are some committees which Jubilee has agreed with us to chair like the Finance and Education committees. We want to be sure that people who are put in those committees are going to elect our people,” he said.
Speaking to the Star on phone on Sunday, Kimunya said the disagreement over the proposed list should not be misconstrued to mean ODM and Jubilee had clashed.
“Every time committees are being selected, they are always those who feel I should have been placed in this particular committee, why should I be put in this committee where I feel it is less preferential," he said.
The Majority leader explained he recalled a list on the floor to allow "temperatures to cool down" after some members from both Jubilee and ODM threatened to reject it because it contained pro-DP Ruto Ttangatanga members.
“We are not doing committees for BBI. We are doing committees for all the matters that come to the house.
“There was a confusion in terms of people thinking that the whole of this exercise was to kick out those who have been brandedTangatanga,” he said.
He said they are building consensus for a fresh list once the members’ temperatures cool down.
(Edited by J. Muchangi)