President William Ruto has condemned chaos witnessed at the Kericho County Assembly on Friday, January 13, 2023, terming the incident as shameful.

Chaos rocked the Assembly after MCAs from different factions fought over recent House leadership changes adopted by Speaker Erick Mutai.

Speaking during an interdenominational church service at Bomet Green Stadium in Bomet on Sunday, January 15, President Ruto said the Members of the County Assembly were wasting the Assembly’s time with endless selfish leadership wrangles.

The Head of State called for a ceasefire in the Assembly to pave way for smooth service delivery.

“MCAs for Kericho stop the nonsense. You are wasting the Assembly’s time fighting for positions instead of doing the job that Kenyans elected you to do. Shame on you,” President Ruto said.

Ruto said Kenya can only move forward if the elected leaders led by example and served with diligence.

He said this is the reason he toured three counties in Nyanza recently to launch development projects despite getting a low number of votes in the last general election.

“My government will be inclusive with the sole purpose of serving Kenyans. It’s not possible to develop any part of Kenya in isolation of other regions,” he said.

“No Kenyan is from the opposition, all Kenyans are our citizens, only leaders are in opposition,” he added.

Drama in Kericho

The fight in Kericho arose following the adoption by the Speaker of a list of House leaders as directed by the High Court on January 12. 

The court had ordered the reinstatement of Londiani ward MCA Vincent Korir who had earlier been replaced by Paul Chirchir as Majority Leader.

Korir had moved to court to challenge the picking of Chirchir to the position despite the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party Secretary General Veronica Maina terming the changes agreed upon during a recent meeting at a Nakuru hotel as final.

During the meeting, nominated MCA Fancy Korir was also picked as Deputy Majority Leader while Kapsuser Ward MCA Peter Kemoi was named Chief Whip.

Nominated MCA Bavina Serem, a former radio journalist, was picked as deputy Chief Whip.

The MCAs disagreed over the list leading to a chaotic session as members engaged in rowdy behaviour with some breaking tables and chairs while some unsuccessfully attempted to go for the mace in an attempt to nullify the proceedings.

The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) condemned the chaos, saying investigations into the incident are ongoing.

“No differences of whatever nature or magnitude should make MCAs or any other state officers engage in physical fights or other unethical conduct. County assemblies should desist from using unorthodox means when resolving differences,” EACC said in a statement.

“The actions of the concerned Kericho MCAs fall outside the prescribed ethics and integrity standards for state officers, as laid out under Chapter Six of the Constitution. Article 73(1)(a) of the Constitution requires state officers to conduct themselves in a manner that shows respect for the people, promotes public confidence and brings honour to the Nation and dignity to the office. “