• It all started when the UDA Senator protested for not being allowed to ask a question to the CS.
• It was at this point that the chair, Senator Abdulkadir Mohamed Haji directed Cherargei out of the chambers.
A short drama was witnessed at the Senate on Wednesday morning after Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei was kicked out of the chambers.
This was during the session where Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen was responding to queries from Senators.
It all started when the UDA Senator protested for not being allowed to ask a question to the CS.
"The CS has been abusing me in funerals. I am here on behalf of the people of Nandi. This is about the issue of roads," Cherargei protested as he stood up from his seat," Cherargei said.
He complained that despite him arriving in the chambers early, his colleagues were being allowed to ask questions before him.
It was at this point that the chair, Senator Abdulkadir Mohamed Haji directed Cherargei out of the chambers.
"At this point, I am going to ask you to walk out. Senator Cherargei, I have shown you the dashboard. Please leave the house so that we continue with the business," he said.
Image: EZEKIEL AMINGÁ
Cherargei who was speaking off the Hansard, did not waste time and proceeded to leave the chambers.
Following the events, CS Murkomen noted that Cherarge's actions were contrary to the Senate's standards.
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I left this house maintaining a very high level of dignity and I think that should be kept. We trust you," he said.
CS Murkomen and Senator Cherargei have been clashing for some time now.
Cherargei and Murkomen first clashed in October over road contracts.
The two on October 27 engaged in a bitter exchange of words with Murkomen strongly criticising the senator for allegedly opposing one of the contractors chosen to pave a road simply because he was not a Kalenjin.
"Cherargei, I want to teach you something. If the President was using a brain like yours, we would not be having the country now. I’m telling you the truth,” Murkomen said in the local Kalenjn dialect.
The CS was speaking during the funeral of the son of Chesumei MP Paul Biego Polo.
He said the government was awarding contracts fairly without room for tribalism.
The senator had in his address to mourners at the same funeral demanded that a contractor from his local community be awarded the road tender.
"I hear that some people are saying that they want to bring people from other communities to be contractors. Give our children the priority of being contractors because if we don't teach our children to be strong contractors, we won't be competitive," he said.
When he stood to speak, Murkomen did not mince his words and told off the senator.
"What about our people whom we have given big contracts owing billions and are in Central and Mombasa? Do you want them to be chased to come home? As your teacher, I have brains and a plan," Murkomen said.
Last week, Senator Cherargei again called out CS Murkomen over the leaking terminal roof at JKIA.
In a statement shared on his X official handle, the UDA Senator termed Murkomen's statement over the leaking roofs as incompetent and lethargy.
"To fix a leaking terminal roof in JKIA takes a whole year, then kumbe our roads in Nandi County shall not be Fixed. This is the highest incompetence and lethargy of CS Murkomen. Kenyans can now see. Cherargei posed.
The Senator's remarks came after CS Murkomen faulted the previous government for the poor management of the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.
His sentiments followed concerns of a leaking roof incident at the JKIA.
Murkomen said the previous government did shoddy work in the maintenance of the JKIA facility and other 12 airstrips across the country.
"When we got to the office, we found out that many of our airports are in a pathetic state and JKIA leaking is a result of that," he said.