Murang'a Senator Irungu Kang'ata was on the end of a barrage of messages from his colleagues and Kenyans alike, following his latest remarks on the contentious revenue sharing formula.
Speaking to the media, the Senate Majority Chief Whip claimed that some senators from the Rift Valley were sabotaging the revenue sharing formula bill on purpose.
“Somebody must have called them, they are no longer supporting the new formula, particularly from a certain region. They are ready to sacrifice their billions just to ensure a Kikuyu county does not gain even a single shilling,” he remarked.
“The reason we (from the Mt Kenya region) are fighting for this formula is because we want strong counties after President Uhuru Kenyatta leaves Presidency.” he added.
Elgeyo Marakwet Senator Kipchumba Murkomen was one of the first leaders to respond to the damning allegations, going on to castigate Citizen TV's Stephen Letoo for airing Kang'ata's video.
He further argued that his colleague's statement was laced with ethnic undertones that were retrogressive for a country looking to move forward.
"Ndugu Steve Letoo did you have to do that story accusing Senators from one region and promoting tribalism without getting the other side of the story?" he posed.
The vocal legislator then revealed that officers from the DCI had been directed to arrest and prefer false charges against Senators opposed to the revenue sharing formula.
His counterpart from Kericho County, Aaron Cheruiyot was also vocal and warned that the legislator could soon find himself out in the cold.
Kenyans also weighed in on the issue, with most making it clear that any sort of tribal remarks did not represent their own views on the issue.
"Ethnic profiling of Senators from a certain regions is uncalled for. Majority Whip should be guided on how to provide leadership and build team work," Simon Kipronoh tweeted.
The Senate has failed in 9 attempts to make a decision on the controversial third basis of sharing revenue among counties.
During the sitting on Tuesday, August 11, a section of the Senate accused Speaker Kenneth Lusaka of pushing for a predetermined position on the State's behalf.
Meru Senator Mithika Linturi had tabled an amendment of the formula, proposing that the formula should only apply to any allocations that are above Ksh270 billion.
He then proposed that the remaining Ksh46.5 billion be subjected to the formula developed by the Commission on revenue Allocation (CRA).
25 senators from the counties labelled as losers voted in support of Linturi’s amendment, while 20 senators, mainly from the counties that were to gain significantly, voted to reject the amendment.
Watch Senator Kang'ata's controversial statement below:
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