Wiper kicks out Maalim amid call for Ruto to resign

Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka addresses a press conference at SKM command centre, in Nairobi, on January 15, 2025. [David Gichuru, Standard]

The opposition is now asking President William Ruto to resign, accusing him of blatant refusal to respect and enforce the Constitution.

Condemning a spate of abductions, the leaders on Wednesday said the President should take responsibility as the “commander in chief of the abduction squad”.

Azimio co-principal Kalonzo Musyoka said the Kenya Kwanza administration has turned out to be a criminal enterprise.

“For avoidance of doubt, the Director General of National Intelligent Service (NIS) cannot be held responsible alone. The ICC Statute talks about the person bearing the highest responsibility, and that is not Noordin Haji, that is William Ruto. Ruto and his allies’ dictatorship must be considered an ICC statute case,” said Kalonzo.

Kalonzo, who was accompanied by other Azimio leaders at the SKM Command Centre in Nairobi, said Kenyans would no longer agree to be intimidated.

During the meeting, the Wiper Party Leader announced the expulsion of his deputy, Farah Maalim, who he accused of violating the Constitution and the rights of Kenyans.

“The people’s loyal opposition will not sit back and allow this disgraceful attempt to take us back into the dark days of fear and oppression. We shall lead from the front. We have actually demonstrated leadership from the front because we have been in court,” he said.

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“We will fight them in court, we’ll fight them in the streets, we’ll fight them everywhere. We demand that Ruto respects Kenyans and the oath of office he has sworn to preserve under Kenya’s Constitution 2010. We also demand the immediate release of the remaining abductees.”

Maalim is one of the legislators who have been fiercely defending the president. In a recent gathering, the Daadab MP used unprintable words in reference to government critics.

Last year, the National Cohesion and Integration Commission summoned the MP over what they termed as inflammatory remarks against protesting youth.

On Wednesday, Jubilee Secretary General Jeremiah Kioni hit out at Ruto allies angered by Public Service Cabinet Secretary Justin Muturi’s police statement on the abduction of his son.

“So if your son or daughter is abducted and you cannot get hold of Ruto, what does that mean to us? We are on our own,” he said.

The CS, who served as the Attorney General at the time of his son’s abduction on June 22 last year, said he has been waiting for answers to no avail.

Kalonzo noted that Muturi sat on the National Security Council, the top security organ, at the time. “Muturi has been seeking answers for the past six months and they have not been forthcoming to someone so senior in the Kenya Kwanza regime,” he said.

Kalonzo praised the CS for his response after the Director of Criminal Investigations Mohamed Amin invited him to record the statement.

“If the idea was to cower Muturi into silence, they picked on the wrong man. If the bombshell of the Sunday statement was not enough, Muturi’s signed statement clearly and squarely pointed the blame at the main culprit behind the inhuman abductions...That man, as we have previously stated, is President William Ruto.”

The opposition also accused the Kenyan Kwanza regime of establishing command and control structures outside of the Constitution.

“We have actually since established that some headquarters of this abductions squad are somewhere near Ruaraka. As we have previously stated, William Ruto is the Commander-in-Chief of the abductions squads,” said Kalonzo.

“If the Attorney General of Kenya cannot get answers to the whereabouts of his son, who can? If the Attorney General cannot get his phone calls answered by junior staff such as the Director of NIS or DCI, who can? If the then Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki and Principal Secretary, Raymond Omolo are furnished with lies by their juniors, what is the state of the Kenyan Kwanza regime?”

The leaders also hit out at Ruto for the failure to reconstitute the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission.