The purge against pro-Rigathi Gachagua MPs claimed its first casualty after Laikipia senator John Kinyua was forced to resign as a commissioner of the Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC).
Kinyua is said to have tendered his resignation to the PSC chairman and National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang’ula last week following pressure from undisclosed quarters.
He was among senators who voted against the impeachment of the former deputy president at the Senate.
A source close to goings-on told People Daily that Nyali MP Mohammed Ali who sits in the commission was staying on borrowed time. “There is pressure on Ali to resign from the commission. He is fighting against powerful forces and if he refuses to yield, he will be forced out before parliament proceeds for recess next month,” said the source.
Nyeri Senator Kimani Wa Matinga has replaced Kinyua in the commission after senators approved the changes.
Also to be affected in the purge is the Budget and Appropriations Committee which will be disbanded.
The powerful committee is chaired by Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro who is seen as a lone ranger. He will be replaced by Molo MP Kimani Kuria who is the current chairman of the Finance and Planning Committee.
Nyoro abstained from voting during the Gachagua impeachment motion and has been non-committal on the matter.
Kipipiri MP Wanjiku Muhia who chairs the Regional Integration Committee told her colleagues on the floor of the National Assembly yesterday afternoon that she was aware that she was on her way out.
“Mr Speaker let me make my last statement as a committee chair before I’m kicked out next week,” Muhia told majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wa who chairs the Selection Committee which is tasked with making the changes.
The process of removing a member of an independent commission such as PSC is a tedious one, explaining why those out to weed out Rigathi’s allies opted to use the shorter route of coercing them into resigning.
Former Cabinet Secretary Aisha Jumwa completed her term as commissioner in the PSC even after her party then, ODM attempted to kick her out of the commission.
According to the Constitution, a member of a commission (other than an ex officio member), or the holder of an independent office, may be removed from office only for serious violation of this Constitution or any other law, including a contravention of Chapter Six, gross misconduct, physical or mental incapacity, incompetence or bankruptcy. The purge on Gachagua’s allies is said to target the first week of December just days before the lawmakers break for their long recess.
Sources aware of the process disclosed that the changes will take place at that time in order to avoid a backlash from members as already some of them have made it clear they will object to the said changes.
“We are planning to make the changes in the first week of December, just before we go for recess. We want to do this then so that we can deal with the aftermath later,” said a member of the leadership in the National Assembly.
Added the source: “Some of these people will have to go, there is no shortcut about it. This one we must clean up.”
Yesterday’s purge came only two days after Gachagua’s allies insisted that they will not be intimidated and that they will continue speaking the truth.
Speaking during a church service in Kajiado North constituency where they had accompanied Gachagua on Sunday, the politicians accused the Kenya Kwanza government of failing to fulfill the promises it made to Kenyans.
Said Githunguri MP Gathoni Wamuchomba: “I want to say that some of us will continue standing with the former DP Rigathi Gachagua, because he is the deputy president that I elected, let nobody intimidate us.” Kajido Senator Seki Lenku said the government has failed Kenyans on health because the Social Health Insurance Fund was not working.
He said: “The government has failed Kenyans on SHIF, our people are dying in public hospitals and nothing is being done, this is a matter that the government must clarify and the church must call out this regime.”
The MPs’ sentiments come at a time when MPs are engaged in intense lobbying to be considered as chairperson of some of the committees when their colleagues are removed. In their arguments, the loyal MPs insisted that they must be rewarded for the good job they performed during the impeachment of Gachagua.
