Plan to impeach Devolution CS Anne Waiguru

[Kenyan]

The planned motion to impeach Devolution Cabinet Secretary Anne Waiguru over the National Youth Service (NYS) scandal has sharply split the ruling Jubilee coalition leaders in Rift Valley.

Some MPs from Deputy President William Ruto's United Republican Party (URP) have backed the motion being lobbied by Nandi Hills MP Alfred Keter. MPs Oscar Sudi (Kapseret), William Kisang (Marakwet West), Silas Tiren (Moiben), Kangogo Bowen (Marakwet East), Ronald Tonui (Bomet Central), Bernard Bett (Bomet East) and Jackson Kiptanui (Keiyo South) insisted Waiguru should step aside to pave way for investigations.

But a section of lawmakers from the region have vowed to shoot down the motion. MPs Moitalel Kenta (Narok North), David Gikaria (Nakuru Town East), Nderitu Mathenge (Gilgil) and Samuel Arama (ODM) rejected the attempt to impeach the CS, arguing it lacked basis.

Meanwhile, top URP leaders including Kericho Senator Charles Keter are expected to give the party's position today in a comprehensive statement on the twin impeachment threats against Waiguru and President Uhuru Kenyatta.

"We will issue a comprehensive statement on our position on the two impeachment motions. Some leaders in the coalition should not purport to speak for others," said Mr Keter.

Tonui and Bett further claimed Waiguru misled the National Assembly's Finance and Planning Committee on the loss of funds at NYS. Yesterday, Bett said the Government should not apply double standards and demanded officials whose dockets were rocked by corruption claims to step aside.

However, Kenta said he was opposed to the planned impeachment motion because it is an act in futility. Nakuru County TNA MPs said they would not support the motion, saying it lacks merit and is driven by malice.

Gikaria and Nderitu claimed the motion was misguided and was part of a wider scheme by CORD to hound the CS out of office.

Source: standard digital

 

[Kenyan]

Cord MPs have joined forces with their colleagues from Deputy President William Ruto’s United Republican Party (URP) to support a Motion seeking to sack Devolution Cabinet Secretary Anne Waiguru.

Sources familiar with the list of the 97 MPs who have signed the Motion said that the majority were from the URP, ODM and the Wiper Democratic Party. ODM and Wiper are partners in Cord.

A section of MPs allied to President Uhuru Kenyatta’s The National Alliance (TNA) are said to be silently supporting the Motion sponsored by Nandi Hills MP Alfred Keter.

The perennial standoff between the Legislature and the Judiciary over the separation of powers could also feature in the matter, with the National Assembly indicating that it is ready to defy a High Court order barring impeachment Motions against Cabinet Secretaries.

While the Opposition has not taken a formal position regarding the Motion, some of its more vocal members have appended their signatures to help it start the process.

Not waste time

Among them is ODM chairman John Mbadi, who told the Nation that he had signed up.

“I signed it. When I signed I signed just as an MP,” he said.

“As Cord, we felt we should not waste time as a coalition on Waiguru. Because it is the President shielding her. We felt we should go for the President.

One of the grounds against him is actually condoning corruption and selective treatment of Cabinet Secretaries,” he said.

The Opposition’s antipathy towards the Devolution CS also appeared to influence other MPs.

Said Simba Arati (Dagoretti North, ODM): “As ODM we’ve left it to individual members to vote using their conscience, but the feeling generally is that if our party leader has been pushing a position that the lady should be held to account. This is the time to hold her to account”.

According to him, the general feeling within the National Assembly is that “Ms Waiguru must go”.

Makueni MP Daniel Maanzo has been leading MPs allied to Wiper in supporting the Motion. He has already indicated that he will second the Motion when it is debated in Parliament.

Mr Keter spent Tuesday afternoon lobbying MPs from Cord to sign the censure Motion just before Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete arrived for his special address to Parliament.

Moving from one seat to another and with the help of Homa Bay Woman Representative Gladys Wanga, Mr Keter approached ODM MPs George Oner (Rangwe), Opiyo Wandayi (Ugunja), David Ochieng (Ugenya) and Ken Okoth (Kibra). Igembe South MP Mithika Linturi has also reportedly responded positively to the Motion.

Said Mr Wandayi: “I signed in my capacity as an MP because all along we have been asking Uhuru to make her step aside and he has refused to do so. Since Jubilee itself has filed the Motion to impeach her, I very willingly support it.”

Mr Keter is yet to make public the list of the 97 MPs who signed in support of the proposal, but he told the Nation last week that he had more than 20 URP lawmakers supporting him.

Daily Nation

 

[Kenyan]

Nandi Hills Member of Parliament Alfred Keter has been summoned by elders over his planned motion to impeach Devolution and Planning Cabinet Secretary Anne Waiguru.

Mr Keter has already presented the motion to the National Assembly clerk, setting the stage for the impeachment process.

The elders want Keter to appear in person at a meeting scheduled for tomorrow in Nandi Hills township to explain why he is fronting a motion that is likely to cause ripples in the Jubilee coalition.

The elders belonging to the Nandi Council of Elders said they had to urgently plan the meeting so as to engage the MP on the merits and demerits of the motion before it gets to the floor of the House for debate.

Addressing the Press in Eldoret the elders - Thomas Mutai, Simon Nge'ny and William Sawe - faulted Keter for going against the advice of the Rift Valley region leaders and elders who wanted him to drop the motion. They said his action was tantamount to disrespect.

"The MP needs to appear before the council at an urgent crisis meeting on Saturday (tomorrow) to explain why he is going against the grain of the region's leadership by fronting the impeachment motion against the Devolution Cabinet secretary," Mr Ng'eny said.

According to Ng'eny, the MP should align his political stand to the Jubilee leaders' course and drop his defiant attitude, which he observed will play against his political advantage in 2017.

standard digital

 

[Crucial Man]

hawa nao!!! maswala ya kitaifa wanaleta ukabila.
taifa linalo tafunwa na ukabila na kulindana

 

[Ab-Titchaz]

Muturi rejects Keter motion to impeach Waiguru over Sh791m NYS scandal

BY DAVID MWERE
October 23, 2015

Justin Muturi has declined Nandi Hills MP Alfred Keter's motion to impeach the Devolution CS over corruption at the NYS. The National Assembly Speaker said he had received the MP's request for Anne Waiguru's impeachment and had written back to him. The Speaker informed Keter that his motion against Waiguru had only 80 signatures after 17 MPs withdrew support.

The motion, over a Sh791 million loss at the NYS, required 87 signatures to be approved by the Speaker and 117 MPs to sail through during voting. On September 29, Keter said he had prepared a motion of no-confidence in Muturi.

Without specifying, Muturi had told the Star on Thursday; "You may wish to listen to the communication I intend to make from the chair this afternoon."

A reliable source told the Star the Speaker had raised issues with the charges leveled against the CS, and that the motion was as good as dead. House rules require that in the event there is no threshold for the motion, the member or any member of the public pursuing the matter must be officially notified and its details expunged from the record of the House.

Last Sunday, Keter said he submitted the motion to the National Assembly Clerk with the backing of 97 MPs, and asked to add details to his grounds for the impeachment. Muturi had said he would have no problem approving the motion, after which Keter would be required to officially notify the House of his intentions to initiate it.

Grounds cited for the motion are gross violation of the constitution in the management of the NYS, leading to loss of public funds and financial irregularities. This is the second effort to remove Waiguru; the first in May 2014 was unsuccessful as Igembe South MP Mithika Linturi failed to appear to move his motion He had accused Waiguru of intimidating and threatening public servants, and had garnered 98 signatures.

Muturi rejects Keter motion to impeach Waiguru over Sh791m NYS scandal | The Star