The removal of Deputy President William Ruto’s confidant Soy MP Caleb Kositany from his plum position in the ruling Jubilee Party on Monday evening may have sounded the alarm on DP’s fate in the party.
Like a game of chess where to bring down the king one has to face pawns, rooks, knights, bishops and the queen, each and every one of Ruto’s allies in the party has been shaken to the core.
It’s been seven months of a ruthless purge, where every prediction by party Vice Chair David Murathe on party management has come to pass. And now, the only man standing in DP’s camp is Ruto himself.
DP’s waterloo
Last week, Murathe predicted the DP’s waterloo: “Just wait and see, the eviction of the Hustler Nation from Karen (Ruto’s official residence) is coming soon,” Murathe said on KTN’s Crossfire.
Yesterday, Murathe was unavailable on phone but Jubilee strategists close to him suggested that Kositany’s removal was part of the process to get the DP ousted as deputy party leader.
Kositany was replaced by Cherangany MP Joshua Kutuny. The Soy MP has, however, vowed to fight back while also acknowledging that “they might be coming for the DP”.
“If he is to be removed, it will bring down the whole house. The party leader will also have to go. They were elected on a joint ticket and therefore they should be removed jointly,” said Kositany said yesterday.
Those pushing for the removal of the DP from the party are looking at it as an extra pressure on Ruto to quit his DP post. They are latching onto past practice of established political parties where the removal from a party post automatically invalidates any other position held on the basis of the party sponsorship.
This has been the case with Africa’s oldest party, the African National Congress.
However, legal experts are warning such practices, such as ANC’s, may not apply in Ruto’s situation. They cite provisions in the Constitution regarding the removal or vacancy in the office of the DP.
Impeachment motion
“He can only vacate office through a successful impeachment motion in Parliament or if he vacates office on his own. The Constitution is superior to that of the party and therefore DP losing his deputy party leader position does not automatically translate to his loss as DP,” lawyer Bobby Mkangi says.
He, however, agrees that from the context of the particular cases, as the one obtaining for Ruto, it is clear that the centre can no longer hold. In such circumstances, he reckons, the two leaders should sever the ties instead of dragging the country along.
“The union is over. It’s like a marriage that is over but the couple is still hanging on, hurting the children and this could lead to dire consequences,” Mkangi added.
Yesterday, Kositany accused President Uhuru Kenyatta of presiding over the death of his own ruling party. He claimed the president has been using people like Murathe to do the bidding for him. He said he will be moving to court to challenge his ouster.
“We see the president’s hands in everything that is happening. There is nothing happening in JP without the president’s endorsement. Murathe’s utterances are the president’s decisions,” said Kositany.
Kositany claimed his letter was rushed, that it was dated 2020 instead of 2021.
As Kositany whined, it was all joy for Kutuny. He arrived breathing fire, and declaring that his first assignment would be to kick out Jubilee leaders who are disrespectful to President Kenyatta and dividing Kenyans.
Kutuny pledged to clean the Jubilee house and dismissed Ruto as a power hungry leader who will be rejected by Kenyans in 2022.
“We want to clean the mess in Jubilee and those misleading Kenyans through the hustler narrative to brainwash Kenyans to vote them. I thank the Jubilee leadership and the president for my appointment as deputy secretary general. I want to be part of the team that will bring sanity in the party,” he said.
He spoke at Nyakinywa Secondary School in his constituency where he also drummed up support for BBI and the handshake.
UDA ideologies
Yesterday, Ruto’s allies led by Kositany vowed to continue propagating the ideologies of UDA, while also fighting for their space in Jubilee government.
Nyeri Town MP Ngunjiri Wambugu lauded the president for kicking out Kositany, stressing that the Head of State should be respected.
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