Murathe: Alfred Mutua has no numbers to take to Ruto
Jubilee Vice-Chairman David Murathe.
Jubilee Vice chairman David Murathe has criticized Maendeleo Chap Chap party leader Alfred Mutua and his Kilifi counterpart Amason Kingi for quitting the Raila Odinga-led Azimio camp, following claims that they had been denied a copy of the coalition agreement.
Speaking on NTV, Mr Murathe said the two political leaders had time to read and understand the document, and it was ridiculous for them to argue that they did not read it.
“It is so ridiculous to suggest that a Senior Counsel can sign a document which he has not seen or read it. The coalition agreement document is a public document and anyone can access it at the Registrar of Political Parties,” Mr Murathe stated.
Mr Murathe, who is also the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya coalition political party deputy chairman, argued that the two political leaders were being economical with the truth saying the agreement that was meant for two people who are knowledgeable about how law works cannot claim of signing a document with no knowledge of it.
“For people to come and tell you they do not know what they signed, who is to blame, it is them, i cannot put a pen on a paper on something that i have not read, and if need be i need to get a legal guy and interpret to me and particularly if it is a serious document, you are committing the whole party, unless they are saying they went alone without their people, and very soon they will be disowned by their party,” Mr Murathe said.
On Dr Mutua, Mr Murathe said the two-term governor had no numbers in the Ukambani region, and his move to join Deputy President William Ruto's Kenya Kwanza Alliance was inconsequential.
“I don’t think the Governor of Machakos has a following in Ukambani. I don’t know what he is going to add to the UDA,” Mr Murathe said.
Dr Mutua polled 249,603, to beat Wiper’s Wavinya Ndeti to secure a second term in the August 2017 polls.
He claimed that Governor Kingi, the head of the Pamoja African Alliance (PAA), will be dethroned by the 'owners' of the party after he ditched Azimio for Ruto's wing.
The Jubilee vice chair, however, on being pressed, refused to name who the real owners of the party are.
On Monday, Dr Mutua’s Maendeleo Chap Chap party exited Azimio la Umoja - One Kenya Coalition for Kenya Kwanza Alliance.
While exiting, the second-term governor accused the Odinga-led coalition of unequal treatment of political parties in the formation.
However on Tuesday, the Political Parties Disputes Tribunal threw out his application seeking to withdraw from the Raila Odinga-led coalition, saying has not exhausted the internal disputes resolution mechanism.
But Soy MP Caleb Kositany, a close ally of the DP, insisted that the governors’ exit from Azimio and into Kenya Kwanza was a big plus to the Ruto team, and had exposed Mr Odinga’s “deceit and dishonesty.”
“The level of dishonesty in Azimio is so high that in order to get them into the coalition in the first place, they have been threatened. Governors have been threatened and told cases will be revived. But now, 90 days to the elections, governors and leaders are saying: ‘Do your worst.’ They have seen what the people, are saying, and they are going with the majority,” said Mr Kositany during the NTV interview.
Dr Mutua’s Maendeleo Chap Chap has four MPs in the current Parliament. These are Baringo Central’s Joshua Kandie, Vincent Musyoka of Mwala, Lamu West’s Stanley Muiruri and Rehema Hassan (Tana River woman representative).
