The Senate on Tuesday, January 21, rejected an 11-member committee that was proposed by majority leader Kipchumba Murkomen to determine the fate of embattled Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu.
This is after a motion to impeach Waititu was passed by 63 members of Kiambu County Assembly on December 19, 2019, as reported by Citizen Digital.
Kakamega Senator Cleophas Malala was fronted as chairperson and would have been deputised by Nakuru Senator Susan Kihika, and mandated with investigating the charges facing Waititu and present a verdict.
Several senators expressed their displeasure at entrusting a county’s fate to a select 11-member team, arguing that the matter had escalated to a national concern.
They cited that there was a fear of external forces influencing the deliberations of the team.
Nominated Senator Isaac Mwaura claimed that the proposed team was deliberately selected to save the Kiambu governor.
"Some of those proposed do not even attend house businesses. They have been put there because they can be manipulated easily. They have been put there to save Governor Waititu,” he claimed.
House Speaker Ken Lusaka was tasked with picking a new date for a sitting as the matter would now be heard by the full plenary of the house following a Tuesday evening resolution.
Disputing the committee, Nairobi Senator Johnson Sakaja argued before the Senate that the matter would be better handled by the entire house.
"Let the matter be determined by 24 members of the Senate, rather than six members as depicted by the committee," Sakaja argued.
Murang'a Senator Irungu Kang'ata criticised the composition of the team.
"I know of the idea to avoid picking a leader from central to the committee, but I feel at least one senator from the region should have been included in the committee," Kang'ata argued.
Curiously, six of the eleven are senators in the team fronted by Murkomen were from the Jubilee Party and reportedly allied to Deputy President William Ruto, as is the Kiambu governor.
Kericho Senator Aaron Cheruiyot, a self-designated ally of the DP was nominated to the committee along with, Meru Senator Mithika Linturi, Nominated Senator Falhada Iman, Marsbit's Godana Hargura, Anwar Loitiptip (Lamu), and Kihika.
The six have on many occasions declared their support for DP Ruto, and his Tangatanga faction of the Jubilee Party.
Others in the committee were Kisumu Senator Fred Outa, Mombasa's Mohammed Faki, Nominated Senator Silvia Kisanga, Nyamira's Okong'o O'Mogeni, and Malala, who is the committee chair.
Therefore, to seal Governor Waititu's fate or overturn the Kiambu MCAs impeachment, six members in unison would have been enough to sway the vote.
