ODM faults Mutula censure plot

ODM has come to the defence of Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister Mutula Kilonzo over a planned censure motion against him.

Secretary-general Anyang’ Nyong’o on Wednesday said the efforts to remove Mr Kilonzo from office were part of a scheme to undermine the full implementation of the Constitution.

“These schemes have gone into high gear since the ICC ruling last month. The newest of these schemes involves a plan to remove Justice Minister Mutula Kilonzo from office in order to silence him from expressing, as Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs, legal opinions which are inimical to these leaders’ interests,” he said.

Prof Nyong’o described the planned censure motion against Mr Kilonzo as a blatant abuse of Parliament’s authority over the Executive “to achieve highly partisan, self-serving and vengeful goals.”

“These politicians have stooped very low indeed to target a minister, whose positions on the issues under discussion are among the most resonant with Kenyans today,” he said.

Prof Nyong’o said Mr Kilonzo’s record at the Justice ministry on various issues has been consistent and that he speaks his views based on his understanding of the law.

“He is also one of the most independent voices in the Cabinet. The fact that he has taken a position different from that of his party leader on these issues, and the fact that he himself is not a candidate for the presidency, demands that we pay the fullest attention to his interpretation of Constitutional principles,” he said.

Prof Nyong’o said that in this election year, when dirty tricks will proliferate, “we urge all our colleagues to show Kenyans that we, in Parliament, are capable of honestly discussing issues without succumbing to personal vendettas.”

He appealed to reformers in the PNU coalition to restrain their colleagues who are behind the censure motion and other attempts to divide Kenyans.

Allies of Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and Eldoret North MP William Ruto have said that Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka should have Mr Kilonzo sacked.

Mr Kilonzo has been insistent on the ineligibility of Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto to vie for the presidency in the forthcoming elections after ICC pre-trial chambers confirmed charges against the pair.

Roads assistant minister Lee Kinyanjui told the Nation on Monday that he and a group of “like-minded MPs” were scheming how to kick the outspoken minister out of his docket.