Irungu Kang'ata is the Senator for Murang'a County, and the former Senate Majority Chief Whip.
He was a beneficiary of the Jubilee purge in 2020 when he replaced Susan Kihika as the Senate Majority Chief Whip of The Jubilee Party.
He would later file a motion to oust Kithure Kindiki as the deputy speaker in the Senate on Tuesday, May 19. The motion was supported by 48 senators.
Irungu himself would later be dewhipped from his position as the Senate Majority Leader after he penned a letter to President Uhuru Kenyatta on the alleged unpopularity of BBI in Mt Kenya region.
The letter that leaked to the media attracted mixed reactions in the political arena. In the letter, which he at first disowned but later acknowledged to have originated from his office, Kang'ata highlighted issues he thought made the BBI unpopular in the region.
He called for proper research methodology to be employed but urged the pro-BBI team to change tact to avoid embarrassment in case the reforms were subjected to a vote.
Further, the senator stated that the BBI contains many benefits for the region which may be lost forever especially in a situation where ‘their son’ is not in the driving seat.
After his removal, the party’s Secretary-General, Raphael Tuju had denied Kang’ata’s demotion to have been as a result of the protest letter that he had sent to the president.
Jubilee Secretary General Raphael Tuju stated that Kang'ata had lost the trust of his Senate leaders by leaking confidential information.
"We had a meeting where we invited Senator Kang’ata but he refused to come, he joined online and later discussed what was discussed to the media. If after talking, you expose what was discussed, then that is not acceptable and that is a big failure as a leader," Tuju explained.
Kang'ata was replaced by Kiambu Senator Kimani Wamatangi as Senate Majority Chief Whip.