NAIROBI; KENYA: Speaker of the National Assembly Justin Muturi Tuesday suspended the Deputy Minority Leader Jakoyo Midiwo from the precincts of the House after a sensational two-round voting in which the Jubilee coalition won.
There were 108 MPs who voted to have Midiwo kicked out, and 91 MPs, who sought to have him continue with his duty in the House, on the first day of business after a six-week break. Two MPs –Majority Leader Adan Duale and nominated MP Amina Abdalla—abstained.
The suspension was because in the special debate to pull Kenya out of the Rome Statute, Midiwo had opposed the motion and called all the MPs on the government “thieves”.
As soon as the Speaker ordered Midiwo to walk out Tuesday afternoon, all the other MPs from the opposition walked out with him and went straight to the small-dining room –the media centre remains closed- where they addressed journalists.
Minority Leader Francis Nyenze and MP John Mbadi (Suba) termed the Speaker’s decision as “irregular” and “an outrageous experience”.
“CORD will stand firm on this matter and we will stand together with any member of the party who we feel has been unfairly treated. We will not stand any kind of intimidation. MPs from CORD have been victimised in the House. We will not take this lying down. We will fight for our rights in and out of Parliament buildings,” said Nyenze.
CORD argued that the Speaker, Justin Muturi, was partial in his rulings and undertakings in the House.
“He should not be a Jubilee coalition Speaker. He should be a Speaker of all MPs,” said Mbadi.
Another CORD MPP, who refused to speak on the record, said he will seek the support of the party to file a motion to discuss the conduct of the Speaker.
“The Speaker was reading an already prepared statement as he meted out the punishment. How did he know the outcome to get the time to prepare the statement? He should have asked Midiwo to substantiate, but anyway, why do you substantiate the obvious,” said Mbadi. “Suspension is a matter of last resort”.-standardmedia.co.ke
