Elgeyo Marakwet Senator Kipchumba Murkomen now says he will oppose any plans to remove Senator Irungu Kang’ata from his powerful position of Majority Chief Whip.
Murkomen said they if the Jubilee Party Leadership calls for a meeting to remove Kang’ata, they shall attend the meeting and oppose the move.
“If Jubilee Party Leadership calls for a meeting to remove Majority Whip @HonKangata we shall attend the meeting and vehemently oppose his ejection,” Murkomen said.
He said instead they will remove non-party members and replace them with party members.
“It doesn’t matter what he did to Susan Kihika and I, we shall oppose his removal,” he said.
His sentiments come after Kang’ata wrote a controversial letter to President Uhuru Kenyatta indicating that the BBI referendum was not popular in the central region.
Kang’ata warned that as a result, the proposed BBI referendum faces a “spectacular defeat” in the region.
The letter which has triggered political suspicion in Raila’s camp has also rocked a major split Mt Kenya backyard that now threatens to scuttle the Building Bridges Initiative.
Though Senator Kang’ata apologised saying the letter was leaked to the media, President Uhuru Kenyatta’s allies have claimed Deputy President William Ruto is the hand behind the political turmoil—including the letter.
On Monday Kang’ata was disowned by powerful Mt Kenya leaders, including the region’s 10 governors.
National Assembly Majority leader Amos Kimunya trashed Kang’ata’s move as “careless and immature” and alleged it’s a plot by the Ruto political axis to turn the tide against the BBI.
“If you read the letter, it is what has been the position of Karen [Ruto’s official residence] on the BBI. I even doubt whether the senator is the sole author of the letter,” the Kipipiri MP told the Star.
“I wouldn’t want to judge him, but his actions and content of the letter seem to be an extension of Karen. That was a very careless attempt to attract the attention of the boss by purporting to write a letter to him and copying it to the media. That is totally immature.”
The feeling in the Kenyatta camp is that Kang’ata could be preparing to follow nominated Senator Isaac Mwaura to the Ruto camp.
However, Machakos Governor Alfred Mutua on Tuesday said Kang’ata’s letter to President Uhuru Kenyatta on his perspective of BBI support in Mt. Kenya region may be the best thing to happen to the Building Bridges Initiative.
“What the courageous Senate Majority Chief Whip has done is vocalized the whispers that have been going on due to propaganda by opposers of BBI,” Mutua said.
“By speaking about the challenges as he sees them, he has issued a call to arms which has now made the BBI issue and its success, especially in Mt. Kenya region, an issue of debate and hopefully, action.”
The governor said he was pleased that no less than 10 of his fellow governors issued a statement over the letter.
“They have said all will be well and I am sure they will now, more than before, ensure all will indeed be well. That is good for BBI,” Mutua said.