AfricaPress-Kenya: Jubilee Vice-Chairman David Murathe has said the party’s Senate leadership changes were necessitated by insubordination and insults directed at President Uhuru Kenyatta by party rebels.
Speaking during an interview on KTN TV on Monday night, Murathe said the changes were a clear indication that the political marriage between President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Deputy William Ruto is overdue to disrespect from the latter.
“When you marry a woman to take vows and says till death do you part, but when the marriage becomes untenable, you divorce.”
Murathe accused Ruto of sitting at his Karen home directing some senators not to attend his boss’s meeting.“As the party leader, secretary general and the senators were meeting, the DP was busy in his Karen home whipping senators not to attend,” he said.
He termed the changes house cleaning exercise that will proceed to the National Assembly and other committee leadership in the two Houses to bring sanity in the party.“It was coming, some people even felt we were taking too long deal with impunity, disloyalty, insubordination and insults directed at the party leader,” he said. Murathe said President Uhuru cannot achieve his Big 4 agenda with a hostile leadership in the Houses.
“President Uhuru cannot execute Big 4 agenda with a hostile leadership so the cleaning was necessary.”On whether Jubilee was on his death bed, Murathe said the party was on the right track and was attracting like-minded parties and soon it will be bigger than what it is now.“Our party is getting better and bigger we are attracting new friends and coalitions just like what we did with Kanu.”
Backed by party constitution
On their coalition with Kanu, Murathe said what they did was to formalise a pre-election agreement with the independent party in 2017 election which saw Kanu back President Uhuru.
“In fact, we had a pre-election agreement with Kanu in 2017 and Kanu endorsed Uhuru but we didn’t deposit the agreement so have now formalized it,” he added.Murathe defended the changes saying they are back by the party constitution which gives the President and the National Management Committee to enter into a coalition with any party and convene a meeting of behalf of NEC respectively.
“They should read the party constitution Article 9(viii) on which gives Uhuru power to enter into coalition without asking anyone.”He the party constitution allows the NMC to convene where in their opinion they the NEC cannot meet and execute the latter’s mandate.
According to Murathe, the NEC was not able to meet due to Coronavirus and the ongoing stringent directs meant to curb the spread.
He said the changes will be taken before NEC for ratification as per their party constitutionHe dismissed claims by ousted Senate Majority Leader Kipchumba Murkomen and his Majority Whip counterpart Suna Kihika claims that the President had not numbers to effect the changes as outrageous.Murkomen had claimed that only 15 senators attended the PG as opposed to 20 that was reported by State House.
List and signatures
Murkomen said 23 senators did not attend the meeting and have written a letter to the Speaker of the Senate to protest the changes.But Murathe said the party will take the list and signatures of the senators who attended the meeting at State Houses.
He said the Tangatanga senators decided to skip the meeting even after being summoned by President Uhuru himself, something he called disrespect to the party leader.
“If they are sincere and honest, they will tell each and every Jubilee senator received an SMS from the President himself.”Murkomen and Kihika were replaced by West Pokot Senator Samuel Pogishio and his Muranga counterpart Irungu Kangata respectively.
