Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale on Wednesday, October 23, 2024, came to Kithure Kindiki’s defence when he failed to appear before the Senate to respond to questions relating to the Ministry of Interior.

The vocal lawmaker said that Kindiki is the current deputy president officeholder following the impeachment of Rigathi Gachagua.

The National Assembly having approved the nomination of Kindiki, Khalwale says, made the Interior CS the deputy president.

Respect for Kindiki

Khalwale argued that the Senate should have avoided inviting Kindiki to respond to questions relating to the Ministry of Interior since he is now holding the position of deputy president.

“The reason why the minister for interior is not in a position to come is because in this house, it was found that the former deputy president is impeachable and he was removed. By the dint of that motion, that moment, the then DP ceased to be the deputy president. This parliament subsequently appointed Prof Kindiki as the deputy president. So at the level of parliament, the deputy president of Kenya is Prof Kithure Kindiki. I want to appeal to the secretariat to stop being superfluous by sending him invitation letters to come and respond to the issues of the Ministry of Interior,” Khalwale stated

Prof @KindikiKithure's failure to appear before the Senate this morning.. pic.twitter.com/yy7WbnVRhc

— Dr Boni Khalwale, CBS (@DrBKhalwale) October 23, 2024

Kindiki skips Senate invitation

Kindiki was set to appear before the Senate on Wednesday, October 23, 2024, alongside his Energy and Petroleum counterpart Opiyo Wandayi.

However, their offices sent letters to the Senate communicating that they would not manage to appear before the lawmakers.

Kindiki in his communication said that he was not in a position to honour the Senate invitation and that all the inconveniences had been regretted.

“As per the order paper we were supposed to have two cabinet secretaries this morning; the Cabinet Secretary for Interior and National Administration and the Cabinet Secretary for Energy and Petroleum who were supposed to appear to answer to questions from members,” temporary Senate Speaker Hillary Sigei stated.

“We have since received communication from the office of the CS Interior and National Administration. The Cabinet Secretary for Interior and National Administration is not in a position to honour the invitation and all inconveniences are highly regretted. Regrettably, we wish to request your indulgence to postpone the meeting scheduled for 23rd October 2024 at 9:30 am, the CS (for Energy) will be away for official duty from 22nd to 24th of October 2024, kindly reschedule the meeting to a later date of your convenience.”