Kibwezi East MP Mutuse Mwengi.
Days before the impeachment motion against Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua was tabled in Parliament, speculation was rife as to who would move it.
As MPs appended their signatures in support of the motion to impeach the Deputy President -- the first since the promulgation of the Constitution in 2010 -- most were unaware of who would be the mover.
Kibwezi West MP Mwengi Mutuse (Maendeleo Chap Chap party) says only a handful of people, mostly the leadership of the House, knew he was going to move the motion, although names such as Kimilili MP Didmus Barasa and his Homa Bay counterpart Peter Opondo Kaluma were mentioned.
In an interview with Nation.Africa, Mr Mutuse said he has no regrets about moving the motion, which he says tested the 2010 Constitution and ultimately led to Mr Gachagua's impeachment. The matter is still before the courts, although Mr Gachagua has been replaced by Prof Kithure Kindiki.
"I feel happy for the success of the impeachment proceedings and I have been vindicated by both the legislature and judiciary arms of government that the conduct of the former Deputy President was contrary to our Constitution" he said.
The MP says he strongly believes that the system of checks and balances that exists between the three arms of government must be tested.
Mr Mutuse denies being a political "gun for hire" by the state as alleged by supporters of the impeached deputy president, but claims he enjoyed a rare consensus among MPs from both the government and opposition benches because "it was obvious that Mr Gachagua was not fit to continue holding the high office".
As a politician, Mr Mutuse said he expected the criticism, especially the bashing he endured on social media, and simply says it is an occupational hazard of public life.
"I don’t mind the criticism and cyberbullying by a few. People will always have their views and I respect them. What’s important to me is the fact that even the negative publicity helped to enrich the political discourse," he said, adding that he received more support than criticism from across the country.
He believes his performance during the cross-examination in the Senate, where he was accused of being ill-prepared and lacklustre, should have been measured against Mr Gachagua, who fell ill before taking to the witness box.
"Many of the answers were a matter of ‘Yes or No’ while some of the issues required context because they were not strictly legal but also had no legal phenomena that influenced the offending transgressions," the MP said.
He added that at some point he realised that the lawyers representing the former deputy president were concentrating on the weaker charges in the motion and that he deliberately decided to help them waste their own time.
"Cases are won on law, facts and evidence, and also skill and tact. It was tactical and intentional because I knew I would get the opportunity to set the record straight and remove the distortions that his lawyers were pushing in cross-examination. The following day I had the last laugh and convinced the Senate," he said.
The Kibwezi West MP was the subject of ridicule, especially on social media, but he now says he saw it as the usual criticism in such situations.
Back home, the political bashing was intense, with Wiper party leaders accusing Mr Mutuse of being a pawn in a larger political plot to spoil thawing political relations between Ukambani and Mount Kenya regions.
Close allies of Wiper party leader Kalonzo Musyoka argued that Ukambani had nothing to do with the spat between Mr Gachagua and his boss, President Ruto, and that therefore an MP from either Central or Rift Valley regions was best placed to move the impeachment motion.
But Mr Mutuse dismissed the allegations, saying he wasn't a member of the Wiper party.
"I acted within my Constitutional duty as a member of parliament and I didn't need directions or approval from a political party like Wiper of which I am not even a member," said Mr Mutuse.
It was telling that hours after Mr Mutuse tabled the impeachment motion, Wiper Secretary-General Shakila Abdalla issued a statement distancing the party and clarifying that the MP belonged to the Maendeleo Chap Chap party.
The political heat in Ukambani was further exposed after Makueni Governor Mutula Kilonzo Junior questioned why the mover was chosen from their region.
Mr Mutuse responded to the raging debate on social media by saying that being elected to the National Assembly did not make him any less a leader to pursue any matter of national importance and that such accusations were baseless.
"For starters, I vied under Maendeleo Chap Chap as a matter of personal choices and belief. Wiper had a candidate in my constituency whom I defeated. Besides, Kibwezi West has never elected a Wiper MP since it was created in 2013 and even before we have been voting for leadership, not a political party wave," he said.
Mr Mutuse is an Advocate of the High Court and the Vice Chairperson of the National Assembly's Justice and Legal Affairs Committee.
