Rarieda MP Otiende Amollo has dismissed as reckless calls by a section of Kenyans that should Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua be impeached, he should leave office with his boss President William Ruto in tow.
The Senior Counsel termed the calls a diversion, stating that the impeachment motion on the floor of the House is that on the person of the Deputy President and not the President.
Using the phrase ‘kufa makanga kufa dereva’, a section of Kenyans opposed to Gachagua’s ouster have called for the President’s removal from office as well, should his deputy be sent packing.
The literal meaning of the Swahili phrase is that should the tout perish [in the event of an accident], so should the driver.
“Mr Speaker, it’s important to address this issue. Some Kenyans want us to divert attention from the impeachment that is before us. There’s only one impeachment process that is before us, and it is that of the Deputy President,” he said.
The legislator was making his contribution on the impeachment motion of the DP, who is expected in the House at 5 pm to defend himself against 11 charges levelled against him.
A total of 291 MPs appended their signatures in support of the ouster motion drafted and tabled by Kibwezi West MP, Mwengi Mutuse.
Amollo supported the motion on the premise of the DP’s remarks that the Kenya Kwanza government was like a company and those who put it in office were the only shareholders entitled to reap profit.
He castigated those saying that the DP should be impeached alongside his boss if he is found to have violated the constitution.
“Some people have said kufa makanga kufa dereva. Now, let me explain to you; when you say kufa makanga kufa dereva, you must remember that in that bus there’s passengers and those passangers can die if you’re reckless,” he said.
He went on: “In this case, those passengers are Kenyans. We, as Parliament, must navigate that issue so carefully that the passengers called Kenyans remain safe.”
Amollo said that the call for the removal from office of the President alongside his principal assistant is delicate and calls for utmost care.
He said as it stands, the country does not have a functioning electoral agency, and in the event, the seat of the president were to fall vacant, that would be a recipe for a serious constitutional crisis.
“We are in a very unique position where we have a President and a Deputy President, but we do not have an IEBC. If we impeach the deputy president as we need to, the position can be filled even without an IEBC. But if there’s no President and there’s no Deputy President, only the speaker can act for 60 days.”
The seasoned legal mind said the country must, by demand of the constitution, hold a fresh election within those 60 days to elect a new President, but as it presently stands, that would be a quagmire of insurmountable proportions.
“We cannot currently have an election because we have no IBBC. To have IEBC commissioners, you need a president to nominate the board that will select them. Once the board is nominated and they propose a name, the name must be forwarded to us, and it’s only the President who can nominate them.
“In other words, if you say kufa dereva kufa makanga, you want absolute turmoil for all the Kenyans to die in that accident. That would be a very reckless act,” Amollo said.