National Assembly Majority leader Aden Duale has challenged his Senate counterpart Kipchumba Murkomen to resign if he believes Parliament has failed in its mandate.
The Elgeyo Marakwet senator cannot claim that the Legislature has been captured by the Executive when he is in a position of leadership in Parliament, the Garissa Township MP said.
The two spoke during a stormy interview on Citizen TV on Tuesday night.
It all started after Murkomen accused Parliament of having been captured by the state as MPs were no longer free to speak their minds.
“The death of Parliament has been slow and it started in 2013. There is a cartel of individuals in the National Assembly that has been working with the Executive to kill Parliament,” the senator said.
But Duale told the two-term senator should use the privileges of his elevated position in the Senate to build synergy between the Executive and Parliament instead of complaining.
“Murkomen can not walk and chew gum at the same time. He either resigns and remains senator of Elgeyo Marakwet or stop demeaning his office. It demeans his office on live television to call his counterparts sycophants,” he told the Elgeyo Marakwet lawmaker.
He said Murkomen, being the Senate Majority leader, needs to consult widely with the Executive.
"When you are the leader of the Majority of a ruling party, you have access to the party leader, to government ministers and you need to do consultation," Duale counselled.
"You are the one to tell the party leader and government to build consensus on what is of interest for Kenyans," Duale said.
But Murkomen retorted that he was not about to quit his position as he is fighting for the interests of Kenyans.
“We cannot accept a situation where you cannot tell those who are in positions of leadership in the Executive where they are wrong. I will speak my mind,” Murkomen said, insisting that the current Parliament is dead.
He said there is a deliberate attempt by the Executive to suffocate the Senate because of its vibrancy and robust debates so that issues that don't matter to Kenyans sail through Parliament.
“Parliament cannot succeed if both Houses are not working together to find solutions to the things that affect Kenyans,” Murkomen said.
The two leaders' public spat revealed the widening cracks in the Jubilee Party that have now spilled to Parliament.
Edited by Peter Obuya
