Western MPs rally against plot to oust Speaker

Intrigues surrounding the plot to oust National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang’ula took a new twist on Thursday as legislators from the Western region came to his defence.

The Standard has also established that the push to save the embattled Speaker is emanating from State House, where a group of leaders from across the political divide were summoned on Wednesday night.

The meeting was expected to include Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah and his minority counterpart Junet Mohammed.

Their summons to State House coincided with the day that Wetang’ula disregarded a court ruling and maintained that the Kenya Kwanza Alliance remained the Majority in the House, with 165 members compared to Azimio’s 154.

Sources revealed that Junet and Ichung’wah, who were scheduled to appear for a debate on a local TV show, backed out at the last minute due to the summons.

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They had been recalled as part of State House’s efforts to manage the fallout following Wetang’ula’s ruling and the potential stalemate at the National Assembly.

However, sources indicated that Junet declined the invitation to State House.

“There has been intense lobbying from high-ranking offices urging us to drop our demands as Azimio, in a bid to maintain the status quo and save Wetang’ula from impeachment,” said a source who wished to remain anonymous.

The source added that, as far as the opposition was concerned, Azimio was lawfully in place as the Majority.

He noted that unless the Speaker acknowledged this, they would continue to sabotage House business by boycotting proceedings.

“Following the developments on Wednesday, Azimio had planned to hold a Parliamentary Group meeting today (Thursday), but it has been postponed to next week to allow for the conclusion of the African Union chairmanship elections in Addis Ababa, where our party leader, Raila Odinga, is a candidate,” the source continued.

A spot check during yesterday’s afternoon session revealed that a significant number of Minority side legislators were absent. However, the Speaker justified their absence, saying he had received 40 notifications from MPs who would be away from the House to accompany Raila to Addis Ababa for the AUC elections.

The efforts to save Wetang’ula from impeachment took on an ethnic twist, as leaders from the Western region caucus came to his defence.

In a press address at Parliament Buildings, the legislators vowed to ensure that Wetang’ula was not removed from office.

“We should be focusing on greater issues as a country, but now we have made this about the Speaker. I doubt this is really about the Speaker. As Parliament, we have more important matters to attend to. From the Western region community, we want to make it clear that the Speaker is not going anywhere. Nowhere. We have to state this firmly. Regardless of other issues, the matter of the Speaker is off the table,” said Dagoretti North MP Beatrice Elachi.

She added: “You must learn to protect your own. That’s what this country has become. Others are protecting their own, and so shall we.”

The caucus, which was represented by 15 MPs and led by Teso South MP Mary Emase, also expressed disapproval of what they described as a sustained and unjustified attack on Wetang’ula’s leadership.

The legislators also accused the media of orchestrating Wetang’ula’s downfall.

“In a most unfair manner, the Speaker has been prosecuted, convicted, and sentenced in the court of public opinion,” Emase stated.

The MPs further cautioned their Azimio counterparts against politicising parliamentary decisions, noting that it “threatened” the independence of the Legislature.

Other MPs who attended the press conference were John Chikati, Beatrice Adagala, Bisau Kakai, Christopher Aseka, Daniel Wanyama, Elsie Muhanda, Ferdinand Wanyonyi, Frederick Ikana, Geoffrey Mulanya, John Makali, John Walukhe, Martin Pepela, Nabii Nabwera and Fred Ikana.