Uhuru, Ruto showdown as Parliament resumes

Deputy President William Ruto will Monday meet more than 100 MPs as he prepares for a gruelling political duel with President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM boss Raila Odinga.

Ruto's strategy meeting comes as Parliament reconvenes on Tuesday with a busy in-tray that could shape the 2022 presidential contest.

The DP, under fire from nearly all political bigwigs including his boss Uhuru, is also staring at a possible impeachment motion that is sure to test his grip on Parliament.

Harmonisation of two conflicting referendum laws, amendments to the National Cohesion and Integration Act and the BBI Constitutional Amendment Bill, currently before county assemblies, are some of the legislation coming up for debate in Parliament.

The National Assembly's National Security committee led by Kiambaa MP Paul Koinange wants the National Cohesion and Integration Act amended to include class discrimination as a basis for incitement.

This is intended to criminalise the hustler versus dynasties narrative — a key plank of Ruto's campaign.

But perhaps the biggest showdown is the plot to impeach Ruto, spearheaded by an ANC lawmaker who has left no doubt that Uhuru and Raila are behind the plot.

Ruto, who has since Thursday pitched tent at the Coast, arrives back to Nairobi for crucial talks with about 140 MPs.

The DP's meeting at his Karen residence is seen as part of his efforts to consolidate his support in Parliament which is largely controlled by Uhuru and Raila after last year's decimation of his allies.

Uhuru kicked out Ruto's allies from key parliamentary leadership positions and dished out some of the slots to Opposition MPs.

At Monday's meeting, Ruto's allies might have to consider how to survive the ouster spearheaded by Lugari MP Ayub Savula. 

Savula on Sunday maintained the bid enjoys the support of Uhuru's wing of Jubilee party and ODM.

“Raila has actually instructed Junet (National Assembly Minority whip) to work with me while the President as asked Jubilee vice-chairman David Murathe to oversee the process,” Savula said.

The MP said he had been guaranteed at least 126 signatures in support of Ruto's impeachment motion and that he will hit 233 by Tuesday.

“The impeachment process is on and I want to tell Ruto to start preparing his defence on the 16 grounds we have listed,” Savula added.

However, some of Uhuru and Raila's allies denounced the ouster bid, saying their parties had not sanctioned the move as claimed by Savula.

Nyeri Town MP Ngunjiri Wambugu, a key Uhuru ally, said the President had not given any express instructions to have the DP impeached.

“We will wait to get directions from the party and the party leader, but so far we don't have such directions,” Wambugu said of the planned push to oust Ruto.

Wambugu said the President won't be interested in such an idea since he has been 'working well even without the support of the DP.

“For us, we will ignore the DP so that he can focus on his 2022 and for us, we will focus on the development agenda for our people,” he said.

While the impeachment threshold for a Deputy President is no walk in the park, Ruto's allies will Monday evaluate the numbers to ensure their boss is within 'safe range' should Savula make good his threat.

The impeachment push, although remote, has rattled Ruto's camp with Monday's session expected to be another display of the political might of numbers as a warning shot to rivals.

On Sunday former National Assembly Majority Leader Aden Duale laughed off the impeachment threats and challenged Savula to table the motion when the House resumes.

“Bring it on, you should not use this as a bait to extort money from the enemies of William Ruto,” Duale said. 

He said that from his experience as a former Majority leader who oversaw the removal from office of some state officers, the impeachment of a DP cannot be executed by leaders of the calibre of Savula.

“The impeachment of the DP has been a subject at funerals, bars and girlfriends' houses, it is time that it is brought to the floor of the House on Tuesday,” the Garissa Township MP said.

There have been reports that the duo of Uhuru and Raila is not keen on sponsoring a motion to oust the country's second in command since that would hand him the victim card and whip up voters' sympathy.

At Moi's home, Mudavadi fired a salvo at Ruto, asking Uhuru to take the DP back to the “bench for scoring an own goal”, in remarks seen as supporting an impeachment bid.

The DP has been criticising his Jubilee government's performance on development projects and blamed it on Uhuru's rapprochement with Raila following the March 2018 handshake.

With Ruto pulling apart, Monday's meeting at Karen would be critical in providing direction to his troops so that they can speak in one voice as Parliament resumes.

This would be the third time Ruto is hosting MPs allied to him.

The last was in early December when he hosted 170 leaders, including seven governors, 146 MPs and 17 senators to take a position on the BBI in which they called for a multiple-choice referendum.

Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro said while the Karen meeting has been convened to deal with serious matters affecting ordinary Kenyans, the impeachment threat will not be the key agenda.

“We have no time for imaginative charlatans,” Nyoro said. 

“We can't call a meeting on minute issues because even those calling for the DP's impeachment know very well how difficult it is.” 

According to Nyoro, the Karen session Monday will deliberate on how they will push for pro-hustlers agenda in Parliament.

“We will make decisions on how to support the various legislative proposals we have lined up to help our people including the Coffee Bill and the Guaranteed Minimum Returns Bill,” he said.

The DP's agenda in Karen, the Star understands, would also plan how to counter the push by the pro-handshake forces to enact a referendum law that would thwart his calls for a multiple-choice vote.

Kapseret MP Oscar Sudi said the meeting is important in whipping the Tangatanga brigade into action.

“Today we are going to make major decisions on how we are going to approach parliamentary business and ensuring that we are well versed with our agenda,” Sudi said.

On the impeachment motion, Sudi said that the proponents are weak. 

“They do not have the numbers and if they think they have the numbers, let them dare table the motion on the floor of the House,” he said.

The politician revealed that the DP's camp would be very keen on some specific legislative proposals lined up in the House in the coming weeks, insisting rivals must prepare for a rough time.

The Tangatanga camp's determination for an open referendum has raised the stakes for a political battle in Parliament. 

Both Uhuru and Raila have maintained that the referendum bill would be a package that will present Kenyans with only a Yes or No vote, sparking protests from Ruto's camp which insists on multiple choices.

National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi, a key Uhuru ally, has hinted that the House would go for the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee's Bill to amend the IEBC Act, spelling doom for Ruto's proposal.

“I have directed that we have the JLAC idea as the anchor bill. If there are any amendments, they can be informed by the CIOC one. The National Assembly should not have two committees doing the same thing,” Muturi said on Sunday.

The JLAC Bill provides for a Yes or No question but Ruto's Tangatanga team wants the House to adopt the Constitution Implementation Oversight Committee Bill which favours a multiple-choice referendum.

Indicative of the looming clash, the Kieleweke camp which supports Uhuru and Raila, Sunday promised they will resist, 'by whatever cost' such an attempt to block a Yes or No referendum.

“We will reaffirm our push to have a multi-choice referendum and that is why we are neither on the Yes Nor on the NO camps, we want Kenyans to be given an opportunity to make choices,” Sudi said.