MPs who defied majority fear State plotting to punish them

National Assembly during impeachment hearing of Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua on October 8, 2024. [Elvis Ogina, Standard] Some of the MPs who supported Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua claim the State could be plotting to punish them. Some of them are already wanted men. MPs James Gakuya (Embakasi North) and Benjamin Gathiru (Embakasi Central) are only free because they obtained court orders stopping the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), the Inspector General of Police, the Director of Public Prosecution and the Attorney General from charging them in connection with the protests that rocked the country on July and July. Some of the 44 legislators who differed with their 282 colleagues now fear a fate similar to that befell supporters of Deputy President William Ruto, who accused President Uhuru Kenyatta of using the police to intimidate his rivals. Gachagua, who was one of the leaders who complained that DCI was being used to silence him, now finds his allies in a similar position. The DP condemned the plan to arrest those associated with him, criticising attempts to link him with the Gen Z anti-government protests. "President William Ruto and I, on assuming office, gave an undertaking to the people of Kenya that never again shall the criminal justice system be called upon to help in the management of politics. I am embarrassed that we are back to where we were. Harassment of my office staff and Members of Parliament perceived to be close to me has been going on for the last two months," he said. Gathiru yesterday said the State was trying to intimidate the leaders to abandoned Gachagua. "This administration is hell bent on harassing any leader seen with Gachagua. I would like to encourage the MPs who stood with their electorate to stand firm and not to 'buy' fear from the oppressors, we shall endure," he added. Githunguri MP Gathoni Wamuchomba said she was first threatened with removal from the Constitutional Implementation Oversight Committee of the National Assembly when she refused to vote for the impugned Finance Act, 2024, only for the members to save her. She was, however, apprehensive that she may be ejected out of the committee this time round after she rejected overtures to vote for Gachagua impeachment. "I have lived with the threats and intimidation. I would not be shocked if I was removed from the committee because of my personal decision. In any case, I was first removed from the Transport committee in the former administration because of my association with Ruto when he was the Deputy President," she said. Maragua MP Mary Wamaua maintained that she stood with Gachagua out of her conscience and as a result of her rights enshrined in the Constitution. "I followed the Bill of Rights, freedom of association and expression. Through that I feel I have not wronged anybody because I followed what the majority of the people of Maragua, who are my bosses, sent me to do in the National Assembly," she said. During the public participation on Gachagua's impeachment, Kirinyaga Women Rep Jane Maina was summoned by the DCI over alleged plan to cause chaos. She described the summons as a witch-hunt to intimidate her

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