The rivalry between President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto once again played out in the Senate on Wednesday forcing Speaker Kenneth Lusaka to suspend debate on the motion to impeach governor Mike Sonko.
Apparently, senators allied to the DP were uncomfortable with the names of those proposed to sit on the 11-member special committee that would have investigated the governor.
Sensing that the names were heavily tilted in favour of the government side that is keen to see Sonko out, Ruto camp put up a united front to scare the State side, forcing it to abandon the Motion.
“We had to retreat on the Motion after we got intelligence that the Tangatanga team had mobilised to defeat the motion,” one of the House leaders told the Business Daily, explaining the tactical retreat.
He said losing the Motion early would have punctured the psyche of the pro-government senators who are keen to see the governor sent packing.
This forced Leader of Majority Samwel Poghisio to abandon the Motion, arguing that it was for the convenience of the House.
Signs of trouble between allies of the President and his deputy had been on display early on when the Speaker made a ruling that allowed some members to attend the sitting and vote virtually through the Zoom platform.
The communication was not taken lightly with Ruto supporting senators openly challenging the ruling and raising questions around the security of the digital system in undertaking a vote in a critical business as the removal of the governor.
Senators Kipchumba Murkomen, Aaron Cheruiyot, Ledama ole Kina and Moses Wetang’ula challenged the ruling questioning its security features and declared that it was not easy to ascertain who logged in and voted.
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