Some National Assembly committee chairpersons including powerful Budget and Appropriations Committee boss Ndindi Nyoro face the axe as Ruto plots a major purge.
The President is reportedly planning a radical shake-up in the National Assembly to replace disloyal house committee chairpersons and vice-chairpersons with trusted allies.
Nyoro, who is serving his second term as Kiharu MP, is now on the chopping board.
It is believed the President is also under pressure to reward allies who played a crucial role in the impeachment of former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua.
The changes could be executed as early as before MPs break for Christmas next month.
There are fears that unless Ruto has his trusted loyalists in crucial house leadership positions, a looming alliance between Gachagua and some opposition forces such as Wiper boss Kalonzo Musyoka could scuttle his agenda.
While Ruto is working with former Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s ODM party, there are jitters of massive realignment in Gachagua’s Central Kenya turf that could hurt Ruto’s ambitions.
The qualms in Ruto’s camp have necessitated the need to align house leadership with the shift in loyalties to secure Kenya Kwanza's agenda in Parliament.
Nyoro has come under immense pressure from the President’s allies following his decision to skip the National Assembly voting on the impeachment of Gachagua amid suspicions of close links to former DP.
The Kiharu lawmaker, who was shortlisted as Ruto’s running mate ahead of the 2022 general election, also snubbed the National Assembly’s approval voting for Deputy President Kithure Kindiki.
The President’s allies now want Nyoro shown the door immediately, arguing he cannot be trusted to effectively lead the executive’s budget-making process when his loyalty is in question.
Mbeere North MP Geofrey Ruku lifted the lid on the impending reorganisation saying the government must kick out committee chairpersons considered rebels. In a swipe at Nyoro, Ruku said,
“We must sanitise Parliament and committees of the National Assembly and put in place leaders who can steer policies of the government to change the lives of Kenyans.’’
Initially, touted as Gachagua’s replacement, Nyoro maintained a studious silence before emerging last week with comments that rattled Kenya Kwanza bigwigs.
He said it is not his role to speak about the economy’s improvement but Kenyans.
“I should not be coming here as the National Assembly Budget Committee chairperson to convince Kenyans how the economy is growing. It is Kenyans who should be telling me the economy is growing,’’ Nyoro said at an event at KICC on Wednesday last week.
The remarks were seen as jibes at government luminaries traversing the country spreading the gospel of an improved economy.
Nyoro also made a second appearance when he was summoned the Senate Finance Committee last Thursday over allocations to county governments.
Last week, National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah went ballistic on committee chairpersons during a point of order in the house.
Without mentioning names, Ichung’wah warned that the purge will target chairpersons and vice chairpersons who have been skipping house sittings saying the “impeachment season is far from over.”
“I want to say, honourable speaker, that we have just four weeks left before a long recess, but these are the four weeks of reckoning,” he said.
“Let me tell the chairs from both sides of the House: if you are a chair or vice chair of a committee, take your work seriously. If you don’t, there are 280 other members who can take those positions…I am not encouraging anyone to impeach anyone, but if need be, please impeach these chairs and their vice chairs if they can’t be in the House.”
Nyoro was an influential figure in the Kenya Kwanza campaigns and played a significant role in shaping the Bottom-Up Economic Model.
He was initially linked to Gachagua’s woes in government after some MPs endorsed him as Ruto’s running mate in 2027.
Last year and early this year, Nyoro traversed the country, holding rallies and fundraisers, triggering tension in Kenya Kwanza, even as Ruto warned against early campaigns.
Nyoro’s is influence had extended beyond the parliamentary floor;
some members even traveled to Kiharu constituency to study his NGCDF projects, signalling his then
rising star.
