Lobbying intensifies as purge looms for rebel MPs

National Assembly during impeachment trial against former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua. [File, Standard]

A new purge targeting "rebel MPs' and other key leaders who defied party lines and supported former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua during his impeachment is now on the way.

The purge is determined to punish Gachagua’s allies serving in the Cabinet, Principal Secretaries as well as parastatals. The Standard has established that the President will also rethink his decision to include technocrats into the Cabinet in relation to his 2027 re-election game plan.

The expected purge has triggered intense lobbying for positions that are vacant or are about to be, once President Ruto starts wielding his axe.

And as the lobbying intensifies as leader’s jostle to be appointed as cabinet secretaries in the ministries of Gender and Interior and Coordination of government, both the Kenya Kwanza administration and  Raila allies are engaged in behind the scene lobbying.

The Interior docket is being held by the Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi in acting capacity while the Gender ministry has been vacant after the National Assembly Committee on Appointments rejected the nomination of Stella Soi Lang’at.

While tabling their report, the Committee said Soi did not demonstrate understanding of the Gender docket. Further, the committee noted that the nominee's experience in public service had been marked by frequent job transitions.

"This lady (Stella Soi) is a career civil servant who has extensive experience in Public Service. However, she did not demonstrate adequate understanding of the docket to which she had been nominated and the committee found her unsuitable for appointment to that docket," said Leader of Majority Kimani Ichungwa.

Pro government leaders in Nyeri are pushing to have the Interior docket go to the county following Gachagua’s impeachment, which left the region without a leader at the Cabinet Secretary level.

This is the first time the county has lacked a CS since independence, having produced notable ministers such as the third President the late Mwai Kibaki, Davidson Ngibuini, Nahashon Kanyi and Chirs Murungaru, among others. The county has also produced two Deputy Presidents: Gachagua and Kibaki.

Leaders from Nyeri have been pushing for the Interior docket to be given to one of their own, following the  appointment of Kithure Kindiki to replace Gachagua. Among the leaders being considered are East African Legislative Assembly (Eala) MP Kanini Kega and former Health CS Mutahi Kagwe, who served in the administrations of former President Uhuru Kenyatta and Kibaki.

Murang'a Woman Rep Betty Maina told The Standard that most leaders from the Mt Kenya region have endorsed Kagwe, and he may be named the Interior docket before the end of the week. “Most of the leaders feel Kagwe is sober and will work efficiently just like Kindiki who served diligently in the Interior docket,” Maina said.

This comes as Mt Kenya leaders pile pressure on Ruto to have a handshake with Uhuru, a move that could help redeem the MP’s image and enhance their reelection chances, as many have been labelled ‘traitors'.

“Most of the electorate are now crying for Uhuru, who had warned them against voting Ruto. If a handshake happens, it will calm emotions and garner sympathy for Gachagua. This coincides with the effort to reach out to Kagwe, an ally of Uhuru, as more slots may be given to his supporters after the looming reshuffle,” said one MP, who wished to remain anonymous.

Sources indicate the plan is to replace technocrat CSs with politicians, similar to Raila’s strategy of picking political figures who will campaign for Ruto’s re-election bid.

“The CSs were appointed quickly in the wake of the Gen Z protests. Now that the President has regained full control of the political situation, he plans to create a new team to support his re-election strategy. Unfortunately, some of the current CSs will have to be let go,” one MP said.

Additionally, rebel MPs who did not support Gachagua’s impeachment are expected to be removed from their influential positions in both the Senate and the National Assembly for disloyalty to the President.

Some MPs on the chopping block include Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro, who is likely to lose the chairmanship of the influential Budget and Appropriations Committee, Gatanga’s Edward Muriu and Kirinyaga Woman Rep Njeri Maina, who are members of the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee (JLAC), and Embakasi North’s James Gakuya, the chairperson of the Trade Committee, along with 13 other MPs.

This comes as Mt Kenya leaders intensify pressure on Ruto to have a handshake with Uhuru, a move that could help redeem the MPs' image and boost their reelection chances, as many have been labeled ‘traitors.’

Ichungwa, who spoke on a point of order in the National Assembly, warned MPs—especially the chairpersons and vice-chairpersons of committees—that the impeachment season is far from over. He cautioned that if they skipped Assembly sessions, they would be ‘impeached,’ a statement seen as a justification for ousting Gachagua’s loyalists.

“I counted the Chairs who were in the House when you asked for the quorum bell to be rung. Only five committee chairs and about seven vice-chairs were present. Where were the other 43 honorable chairs? I want to say, honorable Speaker, that we have just four weeks left before a long recess, but these are the four weeks of reckoning,” he said.

He added, “Let me tell the Chairs from both sides of the House: if you are a chair or vice-chair of a committee, take your work seriously. If you don't, there are 280 other members who can take those positions. Do the honorable thing. If you don’t have time for the House, just do the honorable thing. And you know, in this season—what Junet Mohammed calls the season of impeachment—I am not encouraging anyone to impeach anyone, but if need be, please impeach these chairs and their vice-chairs if they can't be in the House.”