{"id":7639,"date":"2020-05-13T07:43:40","date_gmt":"2020-05-13T07:43:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.com\/kenya\/?p=7639"},"modified":"2020-05-13T07:43:40","modified_gmt":"2020-05-13T07:43:40","slug":"senate-leadership-changes-draw-praises-and-criticisms-from-major-political-allies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/senate-leadership-changes-draw-praises-and-criticisms-from-major-political-allies","title":{"rendered":"Senate leadership changes draw praises and criticisms from major political allies"},"content":{"rendered":"

AfricaPress-Kenya:<\/strong> Senate leadership changes that yesterday saw two key allies of Deputy President William Ruto removed from key positions have received accolades and criticism in equal measure.<\/p>\n

In the changes, Kipchumba Murkomen (Elgeyo Marakwet) was replaced as Majority leader by Kanu\u2019s Samuel Poghisio (West Pokot) while Susan Kihika\u2019s (Nakuru) position of Majority whip was taken by Irungu Kang’ata (Murang\u2019a), who was her deputy.<\/p>\n

Already, Ms Kihika has written to Senate Speaker Kenneth Lusaka protesting her removal as the Senate Majority Whip.Leaders allied to President Uhuru Kenyatta have welcomed the move while DP allies have dismissed it, calling it a \u201ccoup\u201d at State House.<\/p>\n

Jubilee Party Deputy Secretary General Caleb Kositany (Soy) said a decision to remove the Senate Majority Leader can only be made at a meeting of the Jubilee Party Parliamentary Group consisting of the caucus of members of the National Assembly and Senate elected on the party ticket or nominated by the party to the respective Houses.<\/p>\n

\u201cA meeting of only Jubilee Senators, or rather a meeting of only Jubilee and Kanu elected Senators cannot for purposes of Article 17(4) be deemed to fall within the definition of the Party Parliamentary Group. All members of Jubilee Party in the National Assembly and the Senate, whether elected or nominated, must be present to sanction removal of the Senate Majority Leader,\u201d said Mr Kositany.<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cIt is noteworthy that only members of the Jubilee Party can make such a decision. The party leader can only preside over a meeting of all members of the Jubilee Party in the National Assembly and the Senate for it is in line with the Jubilee Party constitution. Anything outside this may be deemed to be illegal and unprocedural.\u201d<\/p>\n

President\u2019s mandate<\/strong><\/p>\n

Igembe North MP Maoka Maore said the President had the mandate to pursue an agenda to deliver in Parliament.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is political for the Deputy President to purport to have senators and MPs. For what purpose would he have them? For what legislative agenda would he require them? The MPs should be supporting the President to advance his agenda,\u201d said Mr Maore.\u201cThe replaced leaders had been ridiculing the President thinking they were indispensable. They had been asking for it; now it has been served hot. Let\u2019s enjoy the ride,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

However, Meru Senator Mithika Linturi, an ardent supporter of the DP, described the changes in the Senate as \u201cthe epitome of impunity and dictatorship\u201d.He said Jubilee members had been lobbying and asking for a Parliamentary Group meeting in vain.\u201cThe meeting that was called was just a faction of some members to try and purport that there were changes. Rest in Peace Jubilee,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The Senate Standing Order 19(5) provides that \u201ca senator elected under paragraph (1) may be removed by a majority of the votes of all the senators belonging to the Majority Party\u201d.This means only elected senators of Jubilee Party, being the majority party, can remove the Senate Majority Leader and not a coalition of parties.<\/p>\n

A coalition of parties can only participate in the appointment of a new Senate Majority Leader but cannot participate in the removal of a Senate Majority Leader.In Nakuru County, leaders were also sharply divided over the matter.<\/p>\n

Belgut MP Nelson Koech said President Uhuru Kenyatta violated the law.Mr Koech said Uhuru had no authority over Parliament and that they would contest the changes.\u201cWe will contest this and it will be a very big fight. The party leader has violated the law and it was un-procedural and not required at this time,\u201d Koech said.<\/p>\n

Koech said the removal of Mr Murkomen raises many questions and could end up in impeachment of Dr Ruto.\u201cIs it because he (Murkomen) is associated with the Deputy President? This will cascade to impeaching the Deputy President,\u201d he said.Bahati MP Kimani Ngunjiri dismissed the changes, terming them dictatorial and an assault on democracy among Jubilee Party members.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe President\u2019s game-plan is wrong. He has forgotten that the people he is fighting are the ones who helped him ascend to power,\u201d said Mr Ngunjiri.Nakuru Town West MP Samuel Arama, however, welcomed the move, saying it should have been done earlier to give the ruling party direction.\u201cThe removal of these people from office was long overdue. From their behaviour, it was clear they had been asking for it…,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Continuous politics<\/strong><\/p>\n

He said the affected leaders forgot their roles in the government of the day and engaged in continuous politics instead of development agenda.\u201cTheir ego has been coming from the positions they held until they started disrespecting the President who is the party leader. They couldn\u2019t listen to his calls that they should cease politicking,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Mr Arama said the move should be replicated in the National Assembly and House committees where the chairpersons are opposed to the President and his leadership.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a good start and the President should pitch tent in the National Assembly leadership and its committees to institute similar changes for any leader who disrespects what he and the party stand for,\u201d said Arama.<\/p>\n

National Assembly Majority Chief Whip Benjamin Washiali termed the changes illegal and that they were aimed at punishing a section of the ruling party\u2019s members.He also faulted formalisation of a coalition agreement between Jubilee and Kanu parties.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

AfricaPress-Kenya: Senate leadership changes that yesterday saw two key allies of Deputy President William Ruto removed from key positions have received accolades and criticism in equal measure. In the changes, Kipchumba Murkomen (Elgeyo Marakwet) was replaced as Majority leader by Kanu\u2019s Samuel Poghisio (West Pokot) while Susan Kihika\u2019s (Nakuru) position of Majority whip was taken […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":7636,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8,12],"tags":[314,696,3500,444],"class_list":["post-7639","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-homepage-english","category-policy","tag-deputy-president-william-ruto","tag-kipchumba-murkomen","tag-senate-leadership-changes","tag-susan-kihika"],"yoast_head":"\nSenate leadership changes draw praises and criticisms from major political allies - kenya<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Senate leadership changes that yesterday saw two key allies of Deputy President William Ruto removed from key positions have received accolades and\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/senate-leadership-changes-draw-praises-and-criticisms-from-major-political-allies\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Senate leadership changes draw praises and criticisms from major political allies\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Senate leadership changes that yesterday saw two key allies of Deputy President William Ruto removed from key positions have received accolades and\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/senate-leadership-changes-draw-praises-and-criticisms-from-major-political-allies\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"kenya\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-05-13T07:43:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/eritrea\/sites\/28\/2020\/05\/senate_leadership_ch5eb9b350d569c.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/senate-leadership-changes-draw-praises-and-criticisms-from-major-political-allies#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/senate-leadership-changes-draw-praises-and-criticisms-from-major-political-allies\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Senate leadership changes draw praises and criticisms from major political allies\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-05-13T07:43:40+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/senate-leadership-changes-draw-praises-and-criticisms-from-major-political-allies\"},\"wordCount\":906,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/senate-leadership-changes-draw-praises-and-criticisms-from-major-political-allies#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/eritrea\/sites\/28\/2020\/05\/senate_leadership_ch5eb9b350d569c.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Deputy President William Ruto\",\"Kipchumba Murkomen\",\"Senate leadership changes\",\"Susan Kihika\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"homepage-english\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/senate-leadership-changes-draw-praises-and-criticisms-from-major-political-allies#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/senate-leadership-changes-draw-praises-and-criticisms-from-major-political-allies\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/senate-leadership-changes-draw-praises-and-criticisms-from-major-political-allies\",\"name\":\"Senate leadership changes draw praises and criticisms from major political allies - 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