Defiant Ugunja MP Opiyo Wandayi has said he would disrupt President Uhuru Kenyatta’s addresses “again and again”.
The MP will enter Parliament on Tuesday afternoon, four months since the chaotic March 31 parliamentary sitting.
He and several other opposition politicians blew whistles as Uhuru stood to give his State of the Nation address, causing a delay.
In an interview with the Star, Wandayi rubbished claims he was brought back to Parliament by the Powers and Privileges Committee, terming it a “face-saving gimmick” by Speaker Justin Muturi.
“I have no regrets whatsoever. Neither do I have any apology. I would do it again and again if circumstances do not change,” the lawmaker said.
“For avoidance of doubt, the Powers and Privileges Committee has not brought me back to Parliament. I have been brought back by a court order. The whole committee idea was simply but a sideshow.”
Wandayi was forcefully ejected from Parliament after the whistle blowing that was in protest against what was termed a corrupt and incompetent regime.
The MP’s woes did not end there. Muturi invoked punitive standing orders effectively kicking him out of Parliament for a record 11 months and barring him from hefty allowances.
“I have never glorified money, so at a personal level I had no problem. I always live within my means,” Wandayi told the Star.
“In fact, money was never the reason why I chose to go to Parliament. If I wanted to make money, I would have simply made it in the private sector where I was before.”
Wandayi said the most important thing he missed was the opportunity to interrogate the Executive within the confines of parliamentary committees.
“The committees are a valuable platform for unearthing and highlighting the mega corruption cases in government departments and agencies. They had all along considered me a thorn in their flesh and my being away must have really delighted them,” he said.
Wandayi who is also the ODM director of political affairs is among the most vocal MPs within the opposition.
After he was kicked out of Parliament, he moved to court and successfully challenged the order. But Parliament rejected the Judiciary move citing the legislator’s independence.
He was later reinstated by the Powers and Privileges Committee even after declining to appear before it.
Regarding this he said: “I refused to legitimise what was clearly an illegitimate and illegal process in the face of an express court order.”
