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Purged: MPs Omondi, Kibagendi kicked out of key House committees
Suba South MP Caroli Omondi (left) and Kitutu Chache MP Anthony Kibagendi.
Suba South Member of Parliament Caroli Omondi has been removed as chairperson of the Constitution Implementation Oversight Committee (CIOC) following changes to the National Assembly committee structure.
As part of the changes, Mr Omondi has been moved to the less lucrative Sports and Culture Committee as a member.
Kitutu Chache MP Anthony Kibagendi, who is currently suspended from the House indefinitely, has been removed from the powerful Public Investments Committee on Governance and Education and taken to the CIOC. He will be replaced by newly elected Kasipul MP Boyd Were Ong’ondo.
Boyd Were, the son of late Kaspul MP Charles Ong’ondo Were, during the requiem mass at Consolata Shrine in Nairobi on May 7, 2025.
Mr Omondi protested the changes, claiming that he has been unfairly targeted by the Leader of the Majority, Kimani Ichung’wah, and his Minority counterpart Junet Mohamed.
“They don't want me to chair CIOC because they know I’m going to oversight elections. That's why they don’t want me to be in that committee,” Mr Omondi said.
He added that he did not receive any letter from Minority Whip Millie Odhiambo discharging him from the CIOC committee.
“This is a conspiracy between Majority and Minority leaders,” Mr Omondi said in protest.
Marked man
Mr Omondi has recently been very vocal in opposition politics and was recently appointed as the new Secretary-General of Azimio La Umoja, an outfit led by retired President Uhuru Kenyatta. He also associates with the 'Linda Mwananchi' faction of ODM party, which is linked to Senator Edwin Sifuna and has no kind words for President William Ruto’s administration. As such, he reckons, has been a marked man on the committee.
Last week, Mr Ichung’wah warned him that his time as chairman would soon come to an end.
“He will leave that committee because it should be chaired by a majority side. We are a House that respects political parties. I have already engaged him and he knows what to do,” Mr Ichung’wah said.
On his part, Mr Mohammed said the decision was made after the selection committee charged with placing members in various committees re-looked their composition after the by-election.
"When you are being discharged, you are not being taken to a departmental committee. The selection committee sat down, re-looked and made the changes,” he said.
“But the one Mr Caroli is talking about of being discharged...it's coming,” warned the Suna East MP.
Other changes
In the changes, newly elected Ugunja MP Moses Omondi will replace Butere MP Tindi Mwale who is the chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee.
Butere MP Tindi Mwale.
Mbeere North MP Leo Wamuthende is set to replace West Pokot Woman Representative Rael Chepkemoi on the National Cohesion and Equal Opportunities.
Juja MP George Koimburi has been moved from the committee on Parliamentary Broadcasting and Library to the Committee on National Cohesion and Equal Opportunities where he will replace Nakuru Woman Representative Liza Chelule.
In the changes, newly elected Malava MP David Ndakwa will now serve at the National Cohesion and Equal Opportunities replacing the late nominated MP Joseph Hamisi Denar.
New Magarini MP Harrison Kombe will take the place of Budalangi MP Raphael Wanjala who is the chairperson of the Implementation committee.
The changes will also see Marakwet West Timothy Kipchumba, an advocate of the High Court serving in the Justice and Legal Affairs team, replacing the current chairman of petitions committee Erick Muchangi Karemba.
Mr Kipchumba will also serve on the committee of Regional Integration. He was previously in the Parliamentary Broadcasting and Library services, a position that will now be taken by Kesses MP Julius Rutto.
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