The conundrum over who is the bona fide deputy president of Kenya spilled into Parliament on Wednesday, with Deputy President-designate Kithure Kindiki, who has been Interior minister, failing to appear before the Senate over the confusion.
The development comes after last week’s approval of Prof Kindiki by the National Assembly to replace impeached DP Rigathi Gachagua.
However, making the communication, temporary speaker Hillary Sigei (Bomet) said they had received a letter from Prof Kindiki on Tuesday communicating his unavailability, a request which the House Business Committee approved.
“The Cabinet secretary for Interior and National Administration is not in a position to honour the invitation. All inconveniences are highly regretted,” reads the letter.
As per the order paper, the Senate was to host Prof Kindiki and his Energy and Petroleum counterpart Opiyo Wandayi, who also did not show up, to answer questions from members.
Caught up in the confusion over which position he currently holds, Prof Kindiki’s communication was tellingly lacking the reason why he could not appear before the House and was markedly different from Mr Wandayi’s.
For his part, Mr Wandayi was explicit that he was away on official duty between October 22 and 24, 2024.
“We regrettably wish to request for postponement of the meeting scheduled for October 23. The CS will be away on official duty from October 22 to 24, 2024. Kindly reschedule the meeting to a later date of your convenience,” reads the letter from Mr Wandayi.
Stirring the hornet’s nest by triggering a debate on the cause of Prof Kindiki’s unavailability, Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale Boni said the reason why the Interior CS was not in a position to appear before the Senate is because of his nomination and subsequent approval as DP.
“I am struck by the letter from Interior and the reason why he is not in a position to appear before this House found former deputy president impeachable and he was removed and the statement from the speaker was that by dint of that motion, that moment, the then deputy president ceased being a deputy president,” said the Senate majority whip.
“This Parliament subsequently approved Kindiki as the DP. So at the level of Parliament, the DP of Kenya is Kindiki. I want to appeal to the secretariat to stop being superfluous by sending him invitations to come and respond to issues of the Interior. If you have anything to ask him, ask him to come and speak about issues concerning the office of the DP.”
Embu Senator Alexander Mundigi echoed Dr Khalwale’s sentiments adding: “We have a DP by the name Kindiki. He could not have come here as Interior CS. Those calling themselves Mt Kenya West must accept that we are in a broad-based government and we must work together not as parties.”
“The CS has been faithful and has been appearing before this House and the committees but what has been happening in the last few days is why we have not been able to receive the CS today,” he said.
Mr Sigei agreed with Senator Khalwale saying: “The letters were done prior to his appointment but I believe you have a point in regards to what the National Assembly and this House did last week.”
President William Ruto on Friday last week nominated Mr Kindiki as his new deputy, hours after Mr Gachagua was overwhelmingly voted out as deputy president in an impeachment motion in parliament over allegations of corruption and inciting ethnic divisions.
Mr Kindiki’s nomination was subsequently approved by the National Assembly, with 236 MPs voting in approval.
However, the High Court later issued temporary orders stopping the replacement of Mr Gachagua until cases filed challenging the ouster of the former Mathira MP were heard and determined by a three-judge bench.
Kitui Senator Enoch Wambua touched on the confusion over the holder of the deputy president’s office, saying the matter was still in court.
“From where I sit, there is no one who has been appointed as DP. There is a nomination pending appointment. The matter that Khalwale is raising is a matter being canvassed elsewhere and it is not necessary to go into that debate,” he said.
Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna also warned the House not to delve into the matter as the subject is before the court.
“The subject being brought here is before the courts and it would be highly prejudicial to talk about the matter which is live before court,” said the ODM Secretary-General.
“At least in the ministry of Interior, you can say maybe there was confusion as to who should appear this morning,” he added.
“These are matters live before the court of law and if you must comment on matters CS interior, you limit your comments to the extent permissible in the House.”
Meanwhile, the House was not lenient on Mr Wandayi, arguing that he had no excuse, unlike Mr Kindiki, not to appear before them.
Mr Sifuna said some of the questions were as old as six months and it was quite unfortunate that it takes that long to engage with the ministers.
“The excuse from Energy CS is one I cannot accept. We have said that you must prioritise appearance before this House. We as the representatives of the people have a lot of questions to put to the CS. We have not had an opportunity to ask about deals in the energy sector like that of Adani who has now become notorious,” said Mr Sifuna.
“Over a period of time, we have had questions listed for responses. Two Wednesdays ago, we had to adjourn sittings because the CSs did not appear,” added Mr Wambua.
Makueni Senator Dan Maanzo further added: “There must be a way of making sure this House is respected. My question to Kindiki is six months old but we await the outcome of the court. Other CSs must be called to order because we represent the people who have employed them.”
