Uhuru allies, Tanga Tanga clash over plan to impeach Matiang’i

A political showdown pitting allies of President Uhuru Kenyatta against his Deputy William Ruto is shaping up in Parliament after it emerged that Tanga Tanga MPs are plotting to impeach Interior CS Fred Matiangi for refusing to honour parliamentary summons.

The impending confrontation was revealed yesterday by seven MPs allied to the President during a press conference at Parliament Buildings in which they dared promoters of the planned impeachment to make good on their threats.

Embakasi East MP Babu Owino led the group, who accused Tanga Tanga of making up allegations against Dr Matiangi and vowed to defend him to the hilt.

“The allegations the MPs are advancing as reasons for impeachment do not hold water. We are ready for them but I can assure them the motion is dead on arrival,” Mr Owino said yesterday.

The Nation has learnt that Nyali MP Mohamed Ali and Embakasi West MP George Theuri are the faces behind the push to oust the CS, who is considered President Kenyatta’s blue-eyed boy.

Collecting signatures 

The two lawmakers are collecting signatures to kick out the CS on claims that he has spurned invites to appear before several committees of National Assembly to respond to concerns raised by MPs on national issues concerning their constituents.

The two MPs did not pick up our phone calls or respond to text messages but we learnt that in collecting signatures, they are focusing their efforts within the Tanga Tanga pool, indicating the battle that lies ahead.

Yesterday, seven MPs dismissed the reasons advanced for the motion but insisted that Mr Ali and Mr Theuri are acting at the behest of the DP.

“We know they are not acting on their own. It is DP Ruto who has sent them and we assure them once they bring the motion on Matiangi we shall retaliate and bring on the DP,” nominated MP Godfrey Osotsi said.

Ganze MP Teddy Mwambire said the two MPs’ decision to target the CS was part of a wider plan by the DP’s allies to harass public officers they think are not using their offices to advance their cause and warned that he will marshal the House to reject the motion.

“If the DP has any issues with the public officers, let him face President Kenyatta to square out their problems but the civil servants must be left out of it,” he said, pointing out that Dr Matiangi is merely executing his job.

Speaker Justin Muturi has in the past ruled that any MP seeking to impeach a public officer must gather evidence and submit the particulars of the evidence to his office for scrutiny.

If after scrutiny of the specific claims the Speaker is satisfied that the evidence meets the balance of probability threshold, he will okay the motion and authorise the collection of signatures.

Promoters of a motion must gather a third of MPs in the 349-member House, or117 MPs, for the motion to be approved for debate.

The Speaker has also ruled that failure by a public officer to honour invitations to appear before parliamentary committees does not constitute an impeachable offence.

Instead, such committees are mandated to issue a summons to the offending officer that would be executed by the police.

If the officer snubs the summons, the committee in question will draft a motion of censure and table it in the House for debate and a vote taken.

Mr Osotsi faulted Mr Ali and Mr Theuri, saying the motion will fall victim to House rules and challenged them to familiarise themselves with the rules.

“Let the two take time to understand the rules. The role of an MP is not to walk around the corridors collecting signatures. This one will fail because the threshold is very high,” he said.

Saboti MP Caleb Amisi said the impeachment tool is provided in the Constitution not to harass civil servants but to aid accountability and transparency in governance.

Others who attended the press conference were MPs Charles Nguna (Mwingi West), Thudeus Kithua (Kilome), Zachary Thuku (Kinangop) and Gideon Koskei (Chepalungu).