- Wamatangi defected to DP Ruto’s UDA party on whose ticket he wants to run for Kiambu governor.
- Wamatangi said he was ready for any consequences following his decision to decamp from the ruling party.
Image: DPPS
The Jubilee Party has kicked out Kiambu Senator Kimani Wamatangi as Senate Majority Whip as the President Uhuru Kenyatta-led party cracks the whip on defecting legislators.
Wamatangi has defected to Deputy President William Ruto’s UDA party and wants to run for Kiambu governor on its ticket.
Yesterday, Jubilee secretary general Jeremiah Kioni said the party has decided to remove him from the position after he decamped from the outfit that sponsored him to Parliament.
In a quick rejoinder, Wamatangi said he was ready for any consequences following his decision to decamp from the ruling party.
“I welcome disciplinary action if it comes. I am not one of the agenda. I do not behold any positions,” Wamatangi said.
He said Jubilee's decision was informed by a survey of voters he carried oout on his home ground.
“I conducted a very credible survey of what my people want in the next government, and I decided that if it is their wish, then so be it,” he said.
Wamatangi took over the powerful position from Murang'a Senator Irungu Kang'ata who was removed in a similar fashion and for a similar reason, perceived disloyalty.
In a letter communicating the decision of the party’s powerful National Management Committee, Kioni said the panel resolved to remove the senator from the influential position because he no longer belongs to Jubilee.
“The Hon Senator Paul Wamatangi be deemed to have resigned from the membership of Jubilee Party in accordance with Article 5 of the party constitution,” Kioni wrote to Wamatangi.
The letter read: “The Hon Senator Paul Wamatangi ceases to hold any leadership position in any committee of the Senate that he currently holds by virtue of being a member of Jubilee party.”
Kioni asked the senator to file a written response to the party by end of Thursday, if he is aggrieved.
The letter was copied to the Senate Speaker Kenneth Lusaka and Registrar of Political Parties Anne Nderiru.
Wamatangi’s removal came just a day after party said it would write to the speakers of Parliament to declare vacant the seats of MPs who have left Jubilee.
Vice chairman David Murathe said on Tuesday they are seeking a legal opinion on the future of the DP after he was endorsed as UDA's presidential flagbearer.
"With the DP, it is a bit different and we are going to ask for an advisory opinion [on his future],"Murathe said.
He said it was against the law for Ruto to continue serving in the DP's position when he has defected from the party that sponsored him.
"When the DP first ran with Uhuru in 2013, he ran on the TNA ticket." Murathe said. "He was leader of URP but we had to issue him membership in TNA because that ticket had to have identity," he said.
(Edited by V. Graham)