Moses Kuria and Sifuna Face off on Live TV

Gatundu South Member of Parliament Moses Kuria and ODM secretary general Edwin Sifuna were involved in a rather heated conversation on Thursday, January 2.

Kuria and Sifuna along with Kakamega Senator Cleophas Malala were part of a panel on KTN News that engaged in discussions on the state of the nation.

While the Gatundu legislator insisted he had embraced the Building Bridges Initiatives (BBI), he questioned the pre-implementation process describing it as 'just politics'.

He alleged that, though preaching inclusivity, the BBI forums had not been duly undertaken to warm members of the public into an environment that was ready for constitutional reform.

"This is just politics. The BBI team cannot just leave the whole process to politicians," Kuria stated.

"The 2010 constitutional reform was embraced by everybody, every Kenyan was warmed up for change. Kenyans were there, we wanted change. But the BBI has not done that," Kuria alleged.

Kuria alleged that the BBI conventions that were held on January 10, and January 18, were illegal. He noted that the process was gazetted on January 22, only after they held a press conference stating that they would be attending the next forum that would be held in Mombasa.

In a divergent view, Sifuna stated that he was wary of Kuria and members of Jubilee's Tangatanga faction attending the forums.

The ODM secretary-general alleged that Kuria had not aired his views or rather presented before the BBI team views or ideas he wanted to be incorporated in the report.

Sifuna accused the Gatundu legislator of blaming the ODM party for troubles that the Tangatanga faction had encountered.

"These people are cowards. They don't want to confront the source. It is not ODM that gazetted this team, it is the president, your party leader," Sifuna stated.

Sifuna challenged Kuria to explain to the public the rationale of some of Jubilee Party's controversial projects. 

"I am happy that the owners of the SGR will be in Mombasa to explain to the people the genius behind the idea of taking the port from Mombasa to her home in Naivasha which we told them was unsustainable," Sifuna stated.

"I want Susan Kihika who has taken the port from Mombasa to Naivasha to come there and explain to the people of Mombasa why is Naivasha special than Mombasa," he alleged. 

Sifuna warned Tangatanga against derailing the BBI conversation during the Mombasa forum.

"If we are going to give you the mic and all you are going to do is cry, and repeat the things we have been saying here instead of adding value to the process, we will have no choice but to leave you alone," Sifuna asserted.

With the two leaders differing on various aspects of the BBI implementation process, the debate took a rather interesting twist when they threw shade at each other.

As it got louder and contested, Kuria threw a little jab at Sifuna, stating that Sifuna does not understand legislation, citing the fact that he lost failed in his 2017 Senatorial bid.

Kuria further stated that he differed with his party leader on basis of opinion rather than following blindly, accusing Sifuna of being a sycophant. 

"This guy (Sifuna) has not won an election, you lost," Kuria ridiculed. 

Sifuna questioned Kuria's contribution to the eradication of challenges that faced the people of the Mount Kenya region, especially in agriculture, noting that Kuria was a member of the Budget Allocation Committee in the national assembly.

"We saw the other day, the president allocated over Ksh200 million towards the construction of two coffee processing plants. Where were you?"

The next BBI forum is scheduled for Saturday, January 25, in Mombasa and will be graced by leaders from all over the country, inclusive of the BBI Taskforce team.

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