Why threat to impeach Uhuru and Waiguru has stirred Jubilee

Jubilee Alliance lawmakers are today scheduled to gather in Kabartonjo, Baringo County, for one of a series of rallies to seek divine assistance on behalf of Deputy President William Ruto in his ongoing case at the International Criminal Court.

Picking up from the statements made last Thursday in Parliament, the MPs are expected to continue the push to have all those involved in what they describe as procuring and coaching witnesses for the cases at the ICC to come out.

After sitting back to watch Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria make the bold but sensational allegations over the manner in which witnesses were procured for the Waki Commission and would later be used by the ICC prosecution, the coalition has rallied behind the Gatundu South MP.

While the push around the ICC cases has been a recurrent theme for the ruling coalition, and the statements should be quite predictable, the creation of the motion to impeach President Uhuru Kenyatta and the other to compel him to sack Devolution Cabinet Secretary Anne Waiguru have stirred the lawmakers.

NOT CONFIDENT
It is understood that the coalition’s leadership fears that the move by one of their own to initiate the removal of the CS could affect the push.

The meeting at Kabartonjo could therefore set the tone for the political activity both in and out of the House over the next weeks.

National Assembly Majority Leader Aden Duale was bullish about the motion to impeach the President, saying at a press conference last Thursday: “On the one against the President, I can assure the country that I have no doubt in my mind that it will not land on the desk of the Speaker.”

The Opposition would need to have 117 MPs – a third of the House – to append their signatures to the motion for President Kenyatta’s removal for the Speaker to consider approving it.

Mr Duale’s confidence stemmed from the fact that a significant number of Cord MPs have gravitated away from the Opposition.

“The numbers they brought to this House in 2013 are not the numbers they command,” said Mr Duale.

He was not similarly confident about the motion sponsored by Nandi Hills MP Alfred Keter, who has once again worn the cap of a rebel and taken up the task Igembe South MP Mithika Linturi abandoned at the 11th hour last year.

POSITIVE RESPONSE
Mr Keter appeared to have drawn confidence that his motion would gain support from the positive response he received from colleagues in the three days the National Assembly had sittings last week.

He announced his intentions on Tuesday morning and had by Wednesday evening garnered 95 signatures.

He showed the Sunday Nation a list of 45 names and signatures and the other one is understood to be with Makueni MP Daniel Maanzo, who is also designated to second the motion after Mr Keter proposes it.

Speaking at the burial of Deborah Lesley Rugut, the daughter of Sports Secretary Kiplimo Rugut – the former NYS director – Mr Keter told off his critics.

“I will not withdraw my push like the way someone did when we reached the final tape. I am not ready to be compromised,” said Mr Keter.

He also hit out at some MPs affiliated to TNA who he alleged were trying to blackmail him by saying they would back the move against the ICC cases if he withdraws his plans to remove Ms Waiguru over the loss of Sh791 million in her ministry.

“I have always said that those who fixed Mr William Ruto and Mr Joshua Sang are the government. We want Mr Moses Kuria to come out clean.

“Let us not mix issues, those who say they will assist with ICC if we assist Waiguru should know that corruption at NYS is not related to the ICC cases.”

ANTI-CORRUPTION CAMPAIGNER
He added that he was not against government projects but he opposed the price tag on the programmes.

“The Chinese gave Sh15 billion for the NYS and Parliament budgeted Sh25 billion for the same institution. I opposed the standard gauge railway and NYS programme because of the high cost.

One month ago, Waiguru said no money had been lost. Recently, she said Sh791 million was stolen ... The fight against corruption will help this country,” he added.

Nandi County MP Zipporah Kering and former Kipkelion MP Magerer Lagat urged Mr Keter to soldier on with his bid.

“The position he is in is most difficult. When things are going wrong, people don’t want to speak. He is not an ODM member, this country can be helped by people who stand firm,” said Mr Magerer, the former ODM executive director.

The Nandi Hills MP’s history could, however, prove to be his major undoing. Mr Keter became a household name for his criticism of the government deal for the construction of the standard gauge railway but gradually went quiet after he failed to deliver on his much-publicised promises to expose the extent of sinister activities around the deal.

Although he sought to style himself as a whistleblower and anti-corruption campaigner, his colleagues in the leadership said he was acting for people who were unhappy with the decision to give the contract to the China Road and Bridge Corporation.

PROSECUTION'S WITNESS
He also does not have a history of involvement in debate in the chambers on either matters of national importance or the making of laws, which the Jubilee MPs could use to attack him even as he initiates the debate.

The Jubilee Alliance has been emphatic that Mr Keter does not have its support and has gone to the extent of stating that he is acting at the behest of Cord, whose attacks on the beleaguered CS have been relentless.

Ms Waiguru has been directed to record a statement with the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, which Mr Duale interpreted as meaning that she could be a witness for the prosecution.

But the fact that NYS Deputy Director Adan Harakhe, whom she appointed, is on the list of suspects, may not augur well for her defence in the court of public opinion.

The Nandi Hills MP is understood to have made some headway in his efforts to convince MPs from Central Kenya on the need to get Ms Waiguru out of the Cabinet, where she has been one of the most visible Secretaries.

An MP who attended one of the informal lobbying meetings Mr Keter hosted told the Sunday Nation there was anger amongst them when they were told that some of their Cord counterparts have been beneficiaries, either directly or indirectly, of contracts from the Devolution ministry.

A SINISTER PURPOSE
URP MPs have also been uncomfortable with Ms Waiguru as they saw her hand in the acrimonious transfer of Mr Rugut from the National Youth Service last year.

They cite the loss of money at NYS as proof that Mr Rugut was removed from there for a sinister purpose.

At the Thursday press conference, Kapseret MP Oscar Sudi walked out of the room when the matter of URP MPs having signed the motion came up.

He is among those who have been critical of Ms Waiguru and has spoken about it at rallies.

URP MPs have come under pressure from both their leaders in the House and outside, with those who had appended their signatures to the motion being asked to withdraw them.

House rules state that once an MP signs in support of a motion, they cannot withdraw, which would make it difficult, but the lawmakers could take advantage of the fact that the motion is yet to be approved by the Speaker.

Mr Keter did not state how many MPs had attempted to withdraw their signatures but confirmed there had been attempts.

“You cannot blackmail members to withdraw.” He said it had been made to look like having URP MPs back the push against Ms Waiguru would sour their relations with their TNA counterparts and they would then withdraw support for Mr Ruto in his case at the ICC.

“They started by saying I will go the Linturi way and when I got signatures, they said it was a Cord issue and when that could not work, made it an issue of support for the ICC issue,” he said.

ENJOYING A MAJORITY
Mr Keter repeatedly referred to the suspension of Cabinet Secretaries Davis Chirchir, Felix Koskei and Kazungu Kambi, who are yet to be reinstated despite some of the allegations against them having been dropped.

Cord MPs are also interested in the motion because removing Ms Waiguru would help them score a political point.

The Jubilee administration’s handling of Ms Waiguru has been a constant subject of criticism by the Opposition, with Machakos Senator Johnson Muthama going to the extent of making unsavoury remarks at a recent rally at Uhuru Park.

However, for Cord, the mere opportunity to discuss the conduct of the CS for a full two hours would give them a chance to throw mud at the Jubilee administration.

With Jubilee enjoying a comfortable majority and their MPs afraid to be seen to be behind the removal of one of the government’s most visible Cabinet secretaries, mud might be all that is thrown when the motion is debated.
Additional reporting by Stanley Kimuge and Tom Matoke