Murkomen, Kihika face the chop as Uhuru seeks control - VIDEO

Senators Kipchumba Murkomen and Susan Kihika are likely to become the first casualties as the feud between President Kenyatta and his deputy, William Ruto, boils over and enters Parliament.

The president has summoned a Senate Parliamentary Group meeting today in which the two lawmakers are expected to be shown the door as the Head of State starts taking control of Parliament.

Jubilee Secretary-General Raphael Tuju on Sunday told the Nation that the meeting will address the challenges facing Nairobi County government, only alluding to the fact that senators will be free to raise any issues of concern to the president.

However, the Nation has independently established that President Kenyatta has grown increasingly unhappy with Mr Murkomen’s stewardship of the House business and the rebellious tone of his recent pronouncements that border on those of an opposition figure.

Insiders in Jubilee said West Pokot Senator Samwel Poghisio is set take over from Mr Murkomen in a move that is seen as an attempt to pre-empt hard feelings from Rift Valley, where Dr Ruto holds sway.

Isiolo Senator Fatuma Dullo will retain her position as Deputy Majority Leader, while Deputy Majority Whip Irungu Kang’ata will finally earn a reward for his loyalty to the president when he takes over as the Majority Whip from Ms Kihika, according to a proposed line-up revealed to the Nation.

HOUSE COMMITTEES

The new deputy Majority Whip will be Nairobi lawmaker Johnson Sakaja. The changes come after a particularly bad week for President Kenyatta and his allies in Parliament.

While the legislators roundly condemned the government in the manner it has managed the floods situation and the demolitions in Kariobangi, the voices of ODM lawmakers were distinct and suggested something was afoot.

Significantly, the ODM troops made their noises after their candidate for the chairmanship of the Senate County Public Accounts and Investments Committee was defeated through a well-planned scheme by the Ruto supporting cast of the Jubilee Party in the committee.

Narok Senator Ledama ole Kina was de-whipped from the committee on Thursday after he defeated Kisii Senator Sam Ongeri, who was Mr Odinga’s choice.

Prof Ongeri was to be deputised by Mr Kang’ata, who was also rejected because of his perceived loyalty to the president.

As if that is not enough, Mr Poghisio also lost his position as the chairman of the Committee on Delegated Legislations in a vote whose scheming was not dissimilar to the one executed by Ole Kina.

Sources have intimated to the Nation that it is these two events that ODM lawmakers were ranting about when they took on the president on the floor of the House last week.

ABSENTEE ALLY

A source in the Senate revealed that ODM was concerned that even though the party has unconditionally offered its support to the president and his allies, the Head of state was doing little to prove that he is in charge of his allies in Parliament.

“He is more of an absentee ally who has abandoned his friends on the frontline and allowed his critics to go on the rampage,” a senator said of the president.

A top Jubilee official said the president had picked Ms Kihika and Mr Murkomen to serve as an example to critics of the government, warning that others must change course or ship out.

“You cannot constantly bite the hand that feeds you. The removal of the two is a statement to those defiant legislators that they must change their ways or prepare to leave,” he said

On Sunday, Tangatanga MPs laughed off the suggestion to change the Senate leadership, warning that it may work against Mr Kenyatta.

It also emerged that some senators unhappy with the way the meeting was convened will not attend because they believe it is meant to undermine the House’s oversight role and entrench what they called “dictatorship”.

The Nation further learnt that pro-Ruto senators were working behind the scenes to deny the meeting the necessary quorum to transact any official business

MAJORITY SUPPORT

Meru Senator Mithika Linturi, Dr Ruto’s ally, said he was away in Meru and he is unlikely to make it for today’s meeting.

“If the PG is aimed at reconciling the factions in the party or addressing the situation facing the country, I will support anyone who convenes it from wherever I am,” Mr Linturi said.

Jubilee coalition, which includes Kanu, has a total of 38 senators — 27 elected and 11 nominated.

If the removal of the two senators will be on agenda, then the decision must be approved by a majority of the lawmakers, in this case 20 senators in line with the precedent set during the removal of Mr Moses Wetang'ula as the minority leader in 2018.

Those pushing for the removal will have to satisfy the Speaker that the meeting was properly convened and that the quorum was achieved.

They will then be required to provide the Speaker with the agenda of the meeting and the list of those who attended and signed the resolutions.

The two leaders will cease to hold office if the motion for their removal is approved by at least 20 senators.

Keiyo South MP Daniel Rono argued the plan to sack the senators is a ploy by Dr Ruto’s political competitors, warning that the DP’s allies may retaliate by frustrating government's agenda in Parliament.

Mr Javas Bigambo, a political analyst, argues that the political intrigues within Jubilee currently are likely to suffocate its internal growth and planning ahead of 2022.