Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has slammed former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua following his utterances, on Sunday, touching on the removal of Chief Justice Martha Koome from office.
Speaking on Sunday, February 23, during a church service at St. Mary's Emining Catholic Church, Mogotio, the CS castigated the former DP branding him a tribalist emphasising that such individuals should be avoided.
According to Murkomen, judicial officials are assessed based on their level of competence to lead the Judiciary and not on a tribal basis. The CS affirmed that President William Ruto will not engage in or tolerate any tribal-related utterances.
"Other people are saying that they are defending the Judiciary through their tribe. If a judge is being defended to remain in office because of his tribe, that is a very serious problem in the country. I thought every judge is there by virtue of competence and capacity to lead the judiciary," he said.
"His Excellency the president is a nationalist and he is not going to get into these conversations of shareholding here and there," he added.
Speaking during the same event, the Mogotio Member of Parliament Reuben Kiborek asserted that the President has no intention to oust the Chief Justice stressing that her duty as the superior judge is not political.
Kiborek further alleged that Gachagua's move to defend Koome was a strategy to ensure that the Supreme Court ruled his case in his favor.
"You are pretending to be supporting CJ Koome with a clear intention that you have a case before the court, and you know that case will end in the Supreme Court in the hands of the CJ. So pretending that you are defending Koome is to try and influence the case. That amounts to corruption," he stated.
Responding to Gachagua's comments, the Environment Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale, urged the former DP to refrain from attacking the president and should wait until 2027 to execute his political agenda.
Speaking in Garissa, Duale emphasised that the President and his Deputy, Kithure Kindiki, have the mandate to engage with people from all corners of the country, and should not be prevented from doing so.
"To my former friend and Deputy President, don't become pedestrian, when you take the mic, you are in charge and you should tell the truth. Leave the President alone, wait for your time in 2027, and have an agenda for the people of Kenya," he said.
The Principal Secretary of the State Department for Internal Security, Raymond Omollo, while speaking in Makueni on Sunday, urged government officials, regardless of their affiliations, to uphold their duty with diligence and integrity, to ensure that every citizen benefits from their efforts.
The sentiments came after the former DP vowed to spearhead protests if the embattled Chief Justice Martha Koome is removed from office, which he claimed was a move by President William Ruto to muffle political influence in Mount Kenya Region.
The former DP took a keen interest in Koome's woes, as the Chief Justice is currently embroiled in an intense legal battle to keep her seat in the judiciary.
"We know he is planning to impeach Koome. This is too much now. How do you purge the leadership of an entire community that made you president?" he said.
"If Koome is dismissed and I call for protests, will you come out? We are not going to sit again as Ruto destroys the leadership of Mount Kenya," he added.
