Deputy President William Ruto on Tuesday, April 14 heaped pressure on parliament even as a squabble between Senate Majority leader Kipchumba Murkomen and his National Assembly counterpart Aden Duale made headlines.
In a tweet, Ruto called on Parliament to quickly debate and pass proposals considered crucial in the government's response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
"As the executive, we forwarded to Parliament proposals to deal with the health and financial challenges brought by Covid-19.
"The legislature should urgently consider and approve the same to enable GoK to undertake necessary interventions to cushion Kenyans especially the vulnerable," he wrote.
In a controversial series of tweets, Murkomen had on Monday, April 13 declared that Parliament was dead, further claiming that a special sitting to be held by the National Assembly was only meant to rubber-stamp decisions from the executive.
In response, Duale rubbished Murkomen's sentiments as he asserted that Parliament would continue to carry out its mandate and invited Murkomen to the special sitting expected to discuss, among other things, a supplementary budget and the Tax Laws (Amendment) Bill.
"Senator Kipchumba please be specific because unless you mean Senate is " dead" or "died a long time ago", the National Assembly is alive and doing what it knows best, that is resolving issues of concern for the people of Kenya," he wrote.
The squabble came against the backdrop of a controversial front-page by The Standard slamming lawmakers as 'traitors' in the fight against Covid-19, with the headline eliciting harsh reactions from MPs across the political divide.
Speaking to Kenyans.co.ke on Tuesday, April 14, Nominated MP Godfrey Osotsi of the Amani National Congress (ANC) dismissed Murkomen's sentiments, questioning how he continued to serve as a majority leader in an institution he thought was dead.
Osotsi accused Murkomen of attempting to bring factional wars from within the Jubilee Party into the house.
"Murkomen is attempting to bring Jubilee wars into Parliament but in any case, Parliament is above those factional wars. They should not bring that to parliament.
"We know Parliament is not dead, we are going to sit today. We will look at what the government has brought objectively but we will also come up with our own proposals," he asserted.
Osotsi insisted that Murkomen was frustrated from the raging wars pitting allies of Deputy President William Ruto against those of the President Uhuru Kenyatta in the Jubilee Party, further daring him to resign if he truly believed Parliament was dead.
"I think that's the worst statement that can come from a majority leader. He is frustrated by the wars within his party. If I were in Murkomen's shoes I would simply resign. He cannot claim to be leading government business in a Parliament that is dead.
"And in any case, Murkomen participated very actively in the selection of the current leaders in Parliament, including the chairmen and vice-chairmen of committees.
"Remember, they went to State House, they decided the leaders in Parliament and they came and bulldozed them through because of their numbers. So, if he is so frustrated, I would advise him to resign," he reiterated.
