Majority Leader in the National Assembly, Amos Kimunya, has castigated Deputy President, William Ruto, for scuttling plans to pass the controversial Political Parties Amendment Bill, 2021.
Kimunya hit out at the DP, who he accused of whipping MP’s allied to the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) Party to scuttle the proposed amendments to the Political Parties Act.
“He is on record that this Bill is being brought here by conmen. I am certainly not a conman; I am the sponsor of the bill. The President is not a conman. Members of Cabinet, who are his colleagues certainly can’t be conmen. Unless he is admitting that he is a conman,” a visibly angry Kimunya called out Ruto in a TV interview.
The Parliament Majority Leader also insinuated that the Tanga Tanga MP’s were not acting in their own capacities but instead were under duress to toe the line and with strict instructions from the DP.
“We also know that they fear that they are being watched, not just by their master, who is on record for opposing the bill, but also by the ground,” added Kimunya.
He, in the meantime, remained adamant that the bill went through adequate public participation as is required in law. MP’s allied to Deputy President William Ruto had earlier raised concerns on whether concerned stakeholders were involved in drafting the bill.
“The development of this bill started in 2017, up until last year, with caucuses and working groups, where we invited various stakeholders,” stated Kimunya.
Ruto's allies have, however, vowed to shoot down some of the amendments in the contentious Bill.
Mathira MP, Rigathi Gachagua, claimed the pro-Ruto MP’s had numbers in parliament and would do anything possible to have their way. He also hit out at some of his teammates for selling them out when voting in parliament.
"We are aware of the plans that they have in Parliament and you saw how UDA is the party of numbers. UDA is one party and it is battling out with seven parties.
"There are those who were supporting Azimio and amongst are 25 members of UDA who are cowards. They are fearful that they will be apprehended on Friday. They fear that their accounts will be frozen," the MP stated.
During last week’s sittings, MP’s were involved in fistfights that saw Minority Leader, John Mbadi, suspended from the precincts of Parliament for five days after he was involved in a physical brawl with Sigowet Soin MP, Kipsengeret Koros.
Last week the Speaker of the National Assembly, Justin Muturi, recalled lawmakers to parliament for special sittings running from Wednesday, January 5 to Friday, January 7 to debate the controversial Bill with the stage already set for a major showdown.
