Garissa Township MP and Leader of Majority in the National Assembly Aden Duale on Wednesday evening, June 3, detailed an alleged plan undertaken by Kieni MP Kanini Kega to impeach him.
"I am aware that the Member for Kieni Constituency and the Chairperson of the Committee on Trade, Industry and Cooperatives, Hon. Kanini Kega is allegedly collecting signatures from Members to impeach me and supersede the decision of the President and Jubilee Party Leader approving my position as a Majority Leader.
"This is however not new to Hon. Kanini Kega. He is notoriously known for being the king of extortion who thrives in threats and blackmail," Duale's strongly-worded statement reads in part.
The vocal legislator pointed out that the alleged plan to oust him as Majority Leader of the House was illegal as it was against documented procedures.
"National Assembly Standing Order 19 is clear on the process for removal of a Majority Leader which is by a majority of votes of all Members of the Majority Party in a Parliamentary Group chaired by the Party Leader and the decision thereafter is communicated by the Majority Whip to the Speaker," he argued.
On June 2, President Uhuru Kenyatta, during the party's parliamentary group meeting, reaffirmed Jubilee Party's confidence in Duale, by allowing him to continue serving in his role at the National Assembly.
"In this regard, I must thank the Party Leader and the entire Party for allowing me to continue serving the great people of this nation," Duale expressed in his statement.
Political commentators had marked him as a prime candidate for axing in the ongoing purge being witnessed within the ruling party.
This was based on comments made by Jubilee Vice Chairman David Murathe on April 14, in which he hinted at an impending move to kick out legislators allied to Deputy President William Ruto from the halls of parliament.
"The President wants to have people who will back his agenda and push through government policy in parliament. This is not what Ruto Allies are doing. Murkomen and others are sabotaging the President's agenda," stated Murathe.
However, in his latest statement, Duale announced that he was fully committed to serving under the new order.
"I will work with the new leadership team and all Chairpersons of Committees to ensure that by the end of our term, we have kept the promise and made our people proud," he elaborated.
He went on to rubbish the alleged plans by Kanini Kega to impeach him and urged the legislator to focus on serving the people.
"There is no place for collection of signatures. In any case, the process was already completed in the Parliamentary Group meeting chaired by The President to which Hon. Kanini Kega also attended.
While Nyeri Town Member of Parliament Ngunjiri Wambugu confirmed there were indeed plans to ouster Duale, he distanced himself from them.
Ngunjiri, who previously supported the removal of Duale in his position at Parliament decided to follow President Uhuru Kenyatta's stance.
"It is on record that I wanted Hon Aden Duale removed as Majority Leader. I have been specific about my reasons. However, the President decided otherwise," he noted.
Duale's statement came on the day President Uhuru made changes to the organisation of government on Executive Order 1 of 2020.
One of the notable changes was that the Executive Office of the Deputy President was abolished and instead put under that of the president.
When the duo rose to power in 2013, the president had established the executive office of the deputy president, and the two were seemingly running the country together.
