Kibiru likely to replace Kindiki

Kirinyaga Senator Charles Kibiru has emerged as the frontrunner in the race to fill the Senate Deputy Speaker position.

The seat fell vacant after the removal of Tharaka-Nithi Senator Kithure Kindiki.

The Jubilee Party has also surrendered the leadership of two Senate committees to the minority in what sources say is an affirmation of the Handshake between President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM leader Raila Odinga.

The Nation has learnt that the Justice and Legal Affairs and Devolution and Inter-governmental Relations committees will be led by the House minority.

Speaker Kenneth Lusaka declared the seat vacant through a notice in the Kenya gazette on Tuesday and invited interested senators to submit their nomination forms by close of business yesterday.

By the deadline, only five senators — Mr Kibiru, Ms Margaret Kamar (Uasin Gishu), Isaac Mwaura (nominated), Judith Pareno (nominated) and Stewart Madzayo (Kilifi) — had returned their papers.

Senator Millicent Omanga had also expressed interest but did not submit her papers. She is facing disciplinary action from her party after she skipped the Parliamentary Group meeting called by President Uhuru Kenyatta at State House on March 11.

Majority Whip Irungu Kang’ata said no decision has been made and insisted the race is still open but promised to ensure that Jubilee rallies behind one candidate.

“We will have to sit down as Jubilee senators and the Jubilee candidates to sort out the issue,” he said yesterday, promising to reach out to Nasa for an amicable solution.

According to the source, President Kenyatta has settled on Mr Kibiru partly as a regional game plan and also to assuage the Mt Kenya region that has borne the brunt of the purge in the party.

Busia Senator Amos Wako is the front runner to take over as the chair of the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee, a position he held in the last Senate.

The House minority has not agreed on who will chair the Devolution committee.