The Kericho County Assembly wrangles intensified on Monday, November 25, as MCAs upped their efforts to impeach Deputy Speaker Erick Bett from office, despite President William Ruto cautioning against it a day earlier.
Unsavoury scenes were witnessed in the County Assembly on Monday at the County Assembly during the tabling of an impeachment motion against Bett, as a standoff ensued between MCAs who were intent on ousting the Deputy Speaker and his allies.
Bett, who was present at the house, was adamant the MCAs were intent on removing him from office through unconstitutional means.
"If they must remove me, the right procedure must be followed," the embattled Deputy Speaker lamented. "They are denying the media because they want to do monkey business. If they want to remove me, let them allow the world to see."
According to Majority leader Philip Bono, the impeachment motion was passed unanimously and the Deputy Speaker appeared before the select committee last week.
A report detailing grounds why Bett needed to be impeached was tabled before the house on Monday, led by Kisiara MCA Gilbert Ngetich Kimarus.
Bono was adamant the fracas at the National Assembly was a result of Bett knowing he was about to constitutionally lose his position as Deputy Speaker.
"The chaos that some of our colleagues brought was because of the numbers. The minority have the right to have a say but they should do that inside the house, not outside the chambers of the parliamentary setup." the Majority leader said.
Sigowet MCA Weldon Rogony also insisted Bett's removal from office was procedural.
Notably, the MCAs decision to move the impeachment motion against Bett was in direct disregard of Ruto's request less than 24 hours earlier.
During an interdenominational prayer service at Kipsitet Primary Schools in Sigowet/ Soin Constituency in Kericho County on November 24, Ruto specifically sent a message to Kericho leaders, urging them to focus on his development agenda when they had sittings at the National Assembly.
While defending the MCAs' decision to snub Ruto's orders, Kapsoit MCA Paul Chirchir claimed the National Assembly was committed to discussing matters on development, but had to oust Bett for allegedly being "rogue".
"The President wanted this sitting to be changed from impeachment to development," he said. "This morning we woke up to honour the directive from the President but unfortunately we have a rogue speaker who does not respect the rule of law."
On his part, the impeached Bett called on President Ruto to come to his aid after the MCAs snubbed his request.
