Bomet ward reps receive fresh summons from party

Ten ward representatives from Bomet County who last week snubbed summons to appear before the URP disciplinary committee have been ordered to re-appear before it on Wednesday.

The new development comes as more accusations were raised against them.

In a letter addressed to the Bomet County Assembly and signed by URP disciplinary committee chairman Hillary Sigei, the MCAs are now being accused of being “rudely defiant” due to their failure to honour the initial summons.

They have further been accused of failing to defend the party manifesto and constitution, condoning corruption, nepotism and being “mouthpieces of corrupt actions of the governor”.

Mr Sigei, in the letter dated April 8, says the MCAs were nominated to the county assembly with the expectation that they would promote the objectives and principles of the Constitution and the rule of law.

“The MCAs were also required to defend the party constitution and manifesto as well as abiding by electoral laws and code of conduct, which they are being accused of flouting,” Mr Sigei said.

He says the disciplinary committee, as appointed by the party’s National Executive Council, requires that they “appear in person on Wednesday for further grilling”.

The decision, he says, has been taken following the “rude refusal” by the MCAs to appear before the working committee on Tuesday last week.

The ward representatives summoned are Hellen Rotich, Hellen Chepkirui, Aurelia Rono, Patrick Chepkwony, Josphine Rotich, Bensy Too, Beatrice Chebomui, Wilson Keter, Nancy Chepkirui and Rose Boyon.

MEETING WAS DISRUPTED

The MCAs last week refused to be questioned by a special committee that included Senator Kipchumba Murkomen and his Nandi counterpart Stephen Sang.

The meeting was disrupted after nine of the ward representatives stormed out, saying they would not face the committee individually. They also asked to be represented by a lawyer.

Their position, the Nation has established, was informed by the fact that the interviewing panel comprised lawyers and the issues raised against them had legal and constitutional implications.

URP secretary-general Fred Muteti said the MCAs had failed to toe the party line and disciplinary action would be taken against them. This, he said, included expelling them from the party.

Mr Muteti said the MCAs would be sacked as they had been advancing and advocating for policies of another party, failing to safeguard and protect the party manifesto, campaigning against it and being disrespectful to the party.

He said the MCAs had lost ground because Governor Isaac Ruto had misled them into rebelling against the party that nominated them to the county assembly. Mr Muteti asked the Bomet governor to toe the party line or seek fresh mandate.

“We are telling Isaac Ruto to stay with us and obey the party law. If not, he can ship out and build another party or join ODM that he appears to support,” he said.

Meanwhile, Mr Ruto has faulted the party’s attempts to sack the MCAs.

The governor said party officials behind the scheme were in office illegally because they had not been elected.

“URP only conducted elections from the grassroots to the county level and we wonder who elected NEC members summoning others to appear before it,” he said.

At the same time, Bomet governor and his Kericho counterpart Paul Chepkwony have accused Deputy President Wiliam Ruto of remaining silent as his community members are ejected from public offices.

Speaking in Kuresoi South, Mr Ruto, Prof Chepkwony and area MP Zakayo Cheruiyot asked the DP to stop chest-thumping and listen to the people who voted for him.

They warned that failure to listen to the voters would make him lose the support of the Kalenjin community in 2017.

Mr Cheruiyot blamed the DP for the Bomet governor’s woes and warned him against using county representative to fight Mr Ruto.

Mr Ruto said his current tribulations were nothing but a storm in a cup of tea. He said he would not heed to calls for him to step aside to pave the way for investigations into corruption claims against him.

“If you really want to fight corruption you need to start by yourself and you don’t need to malign other’s names for your own selfish gains,” he said in reference to the DP.

Additional reporting by Kipkorir Rono