As political temperatures rise by the day, fight for control of numbers in Jubilee has intensified, opening new battle fronts and cobbling of new alliances.<\/p>\n
For a long time, there has been a belief that Deputy President William Ruto had the numerical strength in both the Senate and the National Assembly, giving him an edge should there be a contest in Parliament.But this was dismantled this week when the DP\u2019s wing in the Senate failed to\u00a0 rescue their compatriot, Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu.Naivasha retreat<\/p>\n
Mr Waititu\u2019s impeachment on Wednesday has dented this theory and emboldened President Uhuru Kenyatta\u2019s side as the battle for supremacy and control of the 416-member Parliament intensifies.The felling of Waititu came three days after the DP\u2019s wing claimed it marshaled more than 150 MPs for a retreat in Naivasha, where they defiantly declared they will hold parallel Building Bridges Inititiative (BBI) rallies is quite telling.Observers credit Waititu\u2019s fall to the alliance of President Kenyatta and Opposition leader Raila Odinga, which saw troops allied to the two, midwife an impeachment that was highly unexpected.<\/p>\n
Bouyed by this victory, some MPs from Uhuru\u2019s wing of the Jubilee Party divide are now convinced that once the Senate and National Assembly resume from recess, they will have the upper hand.Already, a group of MPs allied to Uhuru have indicated their desire to unseat Ruto\u2019s allies from key parliamentary leadership positions.<\/p>\n
The group that has the backing of Raila\u2019s ODM is emboldened by the assured numbers and are now taunting the Ruto allies for a contest.From the meeting of Ruto\u2019s allies at the Lake Naivasha Resort, warning shots\u00a0 were fired over the BBI meetings that were being spearheaded by Uhuru and Raila teams.<\/p>\n
There were allegations of a move to impeach the President, purportedly hatched in the Naivasha meeting whose conveners claimed another 20 MPs had sent apologies.But the Kieleweke wing of the faction insists that Ruto\u2019s perceived popularity has been because of his relentless movement and Uhuru\u2019s ongoing visits to Central Kenya would easily reverse his gains.The Kieleweke team, led by Cherangany MP Joshua Kuttuny, say they now want to clip Ruto\u2019s wings so that Uhuru\u2019s side can take control of committee business.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose in Tangatanga have their allegiance elsewhere. We want a leadership that totally has allegiance to President Kenyatta and is committed to helping him achieve his legacy,\u201d Kuttuny told Sunday Standard.Currently, Ruto allies control a significant majority of House leadership positions, beginning with majority leader and chief whip seats in both houses to the 34 chairs of parliamentary committees.<\/p>\n
House committees<\/strong><\/p>\n The DP\u2019s allies are in control of 19 out of 34 National Assembly departmental, select, financial audit and money related committees, clearly giving him an edge over Uhuru and Raila in Parliament.<\/p>\n At the departmental committees, the DP has 11 out of 15, including transport, public works and housing led by Pokot South MP David Pkosing, agriculture and livestock chaired by Mandera South\u2019s Adan Hajji, communication by Marakwet West\u2019s William Kisang, education by Tinderet\u2019s Julius Melly and Energy by Nakuru Town East\u2019s\u00a0David Gikaria.<\/p>\n Others are environment and natural resources (Nithi MP Kareke Mbiuki),\u00a0 finance and national planning (Kipkelion East\u2019s Limo Joseph), justice and legal affairs (Baringo North\u2019s William Cheptumo) and labour and social welfare (Bura\u2019s Ali Wario).Only administration and national security chaired by Kiambaa MP Paul Njoroge, Murang\u2019a Woman Representative Sabina Chege\u2019s health and Kieni MP Kanini Kega\u2019s trade committees\u00a0are held by people allied to President Kenyatta.<\/p>\n Defence and foreign relations committee chair, Kajiado South MP Ole Katoo Metito\u2019s allegiance is not clear.Kuttuny said once they resume sittings, they will urge the ruling party to introduce changes in the House.\u201cTheir control of the House will be gone soon,\u201d he said.However, Kikuyu MP Kimani Ichungwa dismissed Kuttuny\u2019s threats, calling him a political nincompoop. But Uhuru\u2019s team could be planning bigger political onslaught.<\/p>\n Support base<\/strong><\/p>\n Observers say the President\u2019s latest visit of Nyandarua, Kirinyaga and Meru counties and the planned tour of the entire Mt Kenya could reverse the gains of Ruto\u2019s inroads to the region. Uhuru is keen to reclaim his backyard which many observers say was becoming restive. In trying to claw back the Mt Kenya support base from the jaws of Ruto, President Kenyatta in his charm offensive hopes to also win back some of the MPs who abandoned him for his deputy.\u00a0Uhuru\u2019s assault began late last year when he hosted hundreds of leaders and elders from Mt Kenya at the Sagana State Lodge.<\/p>\n During the meeting, he promised residents that he will take it up with the masses in upcoming county rallies.But Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria argued that Uhuru is \u201cfiddling while Rome burns\u201d.\u201cThe region will not be forced into submission and unless the President learns to consult and have mutual respect with local leaders, the tour will not gain much except politicking,\u201d Kuria said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As political temperatures rise by the day, fight for control of numbers in Jubilee has intensified, opening new battle fronts and cobbling of new alliances. For a long time, there has been a belief that Deputy President William Ruto had the numerical strength in both the Senate and the National Assembly, giving him an edge […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":1802,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8,10],"tags":[446,316,136,312],"class_list":["post-1801","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-homepage-english","category-parties","tag-jubilee-party","tag-succession-politics","tag-uhuru-kenyatta","tag-william-ruto"],"yoast_head":"\n