Jubilee parties clash over Duale
National Assembly Finance, Trade and Planning Committee chairman Benjamin Langat. He has blamed the near collapse of the gigantic Mumias Sugar Company on the presence of more than a million shareholders. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- Mr Tonui and Mr Langat cautioned their Jubilee coalition partners against interfering with the operations of the coalition.
- Mr Langat said the Leader of Majority was protected by the law and that no amount of lobbying would remove him from the position.
- He called on Mr Jamleck Kamau to instead engage in addressing serious issues affecting the country.
United Republican Party MPs have clashed with their TNA counterparts over calls for the resignation of National Assembly Majority Leader Aden Duale.
Mr Benjamin Langat (Ainamoi) and Mr Ronald Tonui (Bomet Central), both of URP, spoke as Mr Duale declared that he would not resign from his position to satisfy the whims of some TNA legislators.
Mr Langat and Mr Tonui cautioned their Jubilee coalition partners against interfering with the operations of the coalition.
Responding to calls by Kigumo MP Jamleck Kamau for Mr Duale’s resignation, Mr Langat said the Leader of Majority was protected by the law and that no amount of lobbying would remove him from the position.
“It is clear in the coalition agreement we made with TNA that the position of Majority Leader would be given to our party.
As a party, we are prepared to defend our own from an onslaught mounted by people who feel threatened by his position,” he said.
Mr Kamau had accused Mr Duale of contradicting his own government on security matters when he threatened to withdraw support from the Jubilee administration in protest against the police operation in Eastleigh, Nairobi, and major towns that he claimed targeted Muslims.
Mr Duale has since changed his mind, saying he would support Operation Usalama Watch as long as it is carried out within the confines of the law.
This was after he led 26 MPs from the Somali community to State House, Nairobi, for a meeting with President Kenyatta last week.
Speaking during a fundraiser at Koitabmat Village in his constituency, Mr Langat called on Mr Kamau to instead engage in addressing serious issues affecting the country.
Mr Tonui said the Leader of Majority was in his constitutional rights to defend his community against what he thought was a violation of their constitutional right.
But at Madogo Primary School in Garissa, Mr Duale said he had no apologies to make over his recent remarks but was quick to add that he fully supported the ongoing crackdown intended to flush out illegal immigrants and criminals.
“We are telling Jamleck Kamau to shut up because he is not equal to Aden Duale,” said Lagdera MP Mohamed Shidiye.
