Kirinyaga Senator Charles Kibiru risks losing his seat after a voter wrote to the Speaker of the Senate Kenneth Lusaka to declare the seat vacant.
The Kirinyanga resident, Josiah Murigu stated that the senator's decision to attend the Jubilee parliamentary meeting intervened with status as an independent candidate.
Kibiru was one of the senators who attended a Jubilee party meeting that was hosted by President Uhuru Kenyatta earlier in May - the meeting resolved to replace Elgeyo Marakwet Senator Kipchumba Murkomen and Nakuru Senator Susan Kihika as the majority leader and majority whip respectively.
In his letter, Murigu noted that it was a point of concern for the Independent candidate to participate in the Jubilee party affairs.
"A keen look into the minutes showed that the Senator was not only listed as one of the attendees belonging to the Jubilee party but also participated in the endorsement to change the Senate leadership.
"The decision of our senator to participate in the said decision implied that he no longer was an Independent candidate but had joined Jubilee coalition as one of its members," the resident argued.
Accroding to the consitution, Article 103 (1) (e) (ii) on the removal from office of a member of Parliament states: The office of a member of Parliament becomes vacant if, having been elected to Parliament as an independent candidate, the member joins a political party.
“It is my humble prayer that you find the senator having been elected as an independent candidate has joined a political party and consequently his seat be declared vacant,” read the letter in part.
The voter observed that he could operate in a vacuum as he needed to caucus with other elected members.
"However lobbying did not involve joining, or affiliating himself with another political party and participating in their Parliamentary Group Meetings," he stated.
In the event, the Senate Speaker the constitution requires him to notify in writing of the vacancy to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
After attending the parliamentary meeting on May 11, Kibiru declared that even though he had vied as an independent candidate, he supported the Jubilee party.
"In fact, I get invited all the time in Jubilee party sittings and have voted with the government at times. In my maiden speech, I did say that the people of Kirinyaga elected me as an independent candidate with the understanding that I am supporting Uhuru Kenyatta.
"This I will do today, tomorrow the day after, and in the future, until Kenyans decide its time for him to go home. To the best of my understanding, currently, the leader of the party I have signed an affiliation agreement with is Uhuru Kenyatta. For that I have no apologies," he stated in a post on May 13.
