Rebel MCAs facing disciplinary action as Kalonzo Musyoka acts tough

Members of county assemblies nominated by the Wiper Democratic Movement party in Ukambani region are facing the sack after the party leadership cracked the whip on errant members.

The party national office has written to all the 15 nominated MCAs in Makueni and Machakos counties to show cause why they should not be dismissed and replaced with more loyal members.

The move follows a press conference by Wiper party leader Kalonzo Musyoka who dared dissenting governors, MPs or senators to leave the party and seek re-elections.

He told the dissenters that they cannot win any vote in Ukambani without the backing of the party.

According to party executive director Brigadier (Rtd) Richard Rop, the MCAs have disobeyed several written warnings advising them to abide by party policies regarding several issues.

“Parties nominate members to legislative assemblies both at national and county levels to advance their political manifesto. If the nominees undermine the party agenda, we have no choice but to replace them with more committed followers,” Brig Rop said.

Also facing disciplinary action are Kitui and Machakos governors and several MPs who have been cited for their wayward political conduct, defying party leadership and alleged political dalliance with Jubilee coalition.

The MPs include Joe Mutambu (Mwingi central), John Munuve (Mwingi north) and Kisoi Munyao (Mbooni) and the Speaker of Makueni assembly Stephen Ngelu.

RESTORE DISCIPLINE

Party leader Kalonzo Musyoka jetted back in the country mid-week and went straight into political fire-fighting in his home region to restore discipline among party ranks.

Sources within the party told the Sunday Nation that while Mr Musyoka was away for close to one month, party high command commissioned a private consultant to evaluate and advice the party on the political situation.

Upon returning, Mr Musyoka was furnished with facts that Wiper MCAs in Makueni may have been compromised with cash handouts by external forces to defy party on the impeachment of Governor Kivutha Kibwana.

The wayward conduct of the MCAs dominated the party National Executive Council and parliamentary group which the Cord co-principal convened on Friday.

The former Vice President was upset by the findings and the embarrassment the Makueni County Assembly dominated by his Wiper party MCAs caused his leadership.

Mr Musyoka sacked John Mutuku and Joshua Mwonga, the Majority leaders of Makueni and Machakos County Assemblies respectively for disobeying party on impeachment of Prof Kibwana and Machakos deputy Governor Bernard Kiala.

The party leadership was concerned by events preceding Prof Kibwana’s impeachment where gun violence was witnessed in the county assembly and the tragic consequences which could have been too complex to deal with.

“It is a big shame to the Kamba community and it would have been very tragic and possible bloodshed had the bullets hit the governor or any leader,” said Kitui Senator and Wiper chairman David Musila.

Prof Kibwana’s impeachment saw his colleagues in Kitui and Machakos accuse the party leadership of being behind “artificially created” political wars to derail their work.

The three Ukambani governors addressed a series of joint rallies across the region where they castigated the party leadership and by extension Mr Musyoka for failing to protect them from the party members of their respective county assemblies.

CLEAR THREAT

In an apparent and clear threat to break ranks with the party, governors Julius Malombe (Kitui), Alfred Mutua (Machakos) and Prof Kibwana declared they’ll chart a new way forward for the Kamba community.

They questioned why the party was unable to instill discipline among its elected MCAs to bring order in the counties and accused some senior politicians in the region for allegedly stoking fires to destabilise them.

“We can’t go on like this. Certain leaders must take responsibility for their political acts of omission,” Dr Mutua said in reference to Mr Musyoka, the party leader.

As Mr Musyoka embarks on efforts to bring order in the party, the political grapevine in the region has it that Dr Mutua is setting stage for a walkout from the party and he was behind the series of last week’s joint rallies.

Dr Mutua, who has been at loggerheads with Machakos Senator Johnson Muthama, claims that older generation leaders who fear that devolution will render them politically irrelevant, are envious of what he has achieved in just one-and-half-years in office.

Mr Musyoka took the bold move of daring both Dr Mutua and Dr Malombe to quit the party and seek re-election on other parties saying the two cannot win any contest without the party support.

However, despite his impeachment and the long standing squabbles with his county assembly, Prof Kibwana is said to enjoy overwhelming support from Makueni voters.

The governors’ quit threats prompted angry reactions from Mr Musyoka’s key loyalists across the region who asked them to make good their threats.

Mutito MP Mutua Muluvi and Speaker of Kitui County Assembly George Ndotto told the county chiefs they were free to decamp if they wished but to stop blackmailing the party.