Raila allies claim Ruto camp plotting to impeach president

National Assembly Minority Whip Junet Mohamed (second right), Kieni MP Kanini Kega (centre) and Minority Leader John Mbadi (left) with other MPs at Parliament Buildings. [Boniface Okendo,Standard]

Members of Parliament allied to President Uhuru Kenyatta and Opposition leader Raila Odinga now claims there is a plot to impeach the President. The MPs claimed the plot was hatched during a two-day retreat by leaders allied to Deputy President William Ruto.

The MPs mainly drawn from Raila’s Orange Democratic Movement party also told the Ruto camp that they were no welcomed for the BBI rallies.

Yesterday’s claim was an escalation of wrangling pitting rival political camps over the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) that followed a declaration by the Tangatanga camp to hold parallel rallies.

The over 30 MPs accused deputy president of being a divisive character out to frustrate efforts to unite the country. They said that they would not allow Tangatanga brigade at their BBI regional consultative meetings scheduled to take place across the country.

National Assembly Minority Whip Junet Mohammed and Borabu MP Ben Momanyi made the claims, saying that they were aware of plans to initiate the impeachment once Parliament resumes next week.

“One of the agenda they discussed in Naivasha, other than the BBI, was the impeachment of the president. We are ready for them; let them bring it to Parliament. We are aware they were collecting signatures to bring to Parliament to impeach President Uhuru Kenyatta. They are too few and minute to the system of governance of this country,” said Junet.

Divisive character

He added: “If there was any proof that Deputy President William Ruto is a divisive character then the events of the last two days provide the clearest pointer. Just a day after he appeared to have abandoned his intransigence and joined the BBI in Mombasa, he turned around and summoned his Tangatanga MPs to a meeting in Naivasha, which we can only say was meant to thrust the DP’s finger in President Uhuru Kenyatta’s eye.”

Momanyi said the rival camp was already trying to put together basis for an impeachment motion against the President.

“It is so clear for Kenyans that Ruto is opposed to the BBI. We know the team that was in Naivasha went there to gauge their strength in Parliament. We know they are building up issues so that they can initiate impeachment of the president. We are waiting for them to bring it on,” said Momanyi.

The MPs did not, however, provide proof to back their claims.

But Ruto allies led by Senate Majority Leader Kipchumba Murkomen and Kimilili MP Didmus Barasa dismissed the allegations and told their rivals to tone down on rhetoric that “breeds hate and division”.

Earlier, a press conference that was quickly called by the Ruto team to respond to the claims by the pro-handshake MPs was cancelled without any explanation.

But in a response to The Standard, Murkomen said the president can handle any issue touching on his deputy or party members without the intervention of the opposition MPs.

“We ask our friends to tone down their rhetoric and focus on building bridges of friendship and national unity. If the president has any concern touching on his deputy or his party members, he will not need the services of the opposition party to address them. Let’s focus on BBI and not sideshows that breed hate and division,” said Murkomen.

The over 30 MPs were drawn from ODM, Jubilee, Amani National Congress, Ford Kenya and Wiper.

Barasa said that the country should ignore the claims made by the MPs, who he labelled as attention seekers, noting they were not part of the campaign that put Uhuru in power.

“They pretend to be defending the president when they did not support his campaigns. Whatever we were discussing was made public. The claims are in their own mind and a sign of desperation,” Barasa said. He added that they would continue attending the BBI meetings as they are public gatherings and not for a particular political party.

The Constitution stipulates a president can only be impeached on gross violation of the Constitution or where there are serious reasons for believing that the president has committed a crime under national or international law; or for gross misconduct.

National Assembly Minority Leader John Mbadi, Ayub Savula (Lugari), Kanini Kega (Kieni), Cleophas Malala (Kakamega) and Gladys Wanga (Homa Bay), said the decision to hold parallel meetings was a clear indication the DP was opposed to the BBI.

They demanded that the parallel meetings be stopped as they were a recipe for further division and political chaos.

“Ruto should know that the handshake was between Uhuru and Raila and if they want to participate they have to join the BBI being spearheaded by Uhuru and Raila,” said Mr Mbadi.

Mbadi said that it was not surprising that Ruto was using proxies to fight the ongoing BBI meetings, alleging that the DP is “not known to support any good governance”.

Wanga said the handshake was as a result of a painful process to bring the country together after a period of heated political contest that nearly split the country into two.

“There is only one BBI, the idea that we are going to have parallel meetings must be stopped. BBI is a result of painful process that brought together the two leaders. If they want a parallel meeting let them have their parallel handshake with whoever they want but should not attempt to cause confusion in the BBI that is being championed by Raila and Uhuru,” she said.

Savula said holding parallel rallies would plunge the country into another cycle of political chaos.

“As ANC we will only attend rallies organised by Uhuru and Raila because we do not want this kind of sideshow. Parallel rallies are a recipe for anarchy and chaos. Handshake was meant to unite the country and bring peace. We have to safeguard the handshake to prevent erosion of the gains made so far,” said Savula.

Kega accused Murkomen of political conmanship, saying the faction had announced to be part of the ongoing regional meetings only to make a U-turn and plan for parallel meetings.

“The other day Murkomen said they would be attending BBI meetings and would not be holding parallel meetings. But when they met in Naivasha he said they will be having a parallel meeting in Nakuru on Feb 8 when they know BBI meeting for Nakuru is slated for Feb 22,” he said.

Parallel meetings

Malala said they will not allow Tangatanga MPs to have parallel meetings and still continue to attend their BBI gatherings

“This is a defining moment for this country to unite and we will not allow you to confuse our people. They said they will be attending our meetings while holding their parallel meetings. I want to tell them that they cannot be party to our meetings anymore,” he said.

The leaders accused Ruto of finding it hard to accept that Kenya’s political dispensation has changed to include everyone.

“He still has not accepted that Uhuru decided to open his government up for all Kenyans, and that it is Uhuru’s wish to run his second term with that understanding. For Ruto, a divided country and a divisive political climate was his pathway to power, and remains his best bet for 2022,” said Junet in a joint statement by the MPs.

And Jubilee party Deputy Secretary General Caleb Kositany has asked party’s Secretary General Raphael Tuju to stop interfering with BBI meetings organised by MPs allied to Ruto.

The Soy MP who is a close ally of DP Ruto took issue with a letter issued by Tuju clarifying that a meeting of 173 MPs in Naivasha on Monday was not a Jubilee Parliamentary Group meeting.

“The letter by Tuju was totally unnecessary, uncalled for and indicates that Tuju is too idle and the President should assign him more duties so that he stops following us (MPs) around to see what we are doing,” Kositany said. [Additional reporting by Stephen Rutto]