On Tuesday, citizens of Bungoma demonstrated in the streets against the purported plot to remove Moses Wetangula, the speaker of the National Assembly.
Residents of Bugoma Town staged a protest march through the town’s streets, carrying large signs and sticks that accused opposition MPs of masterminding Wetangula’s impeachment scheme.
The protesters, who were primarily boda boda riders, also criticized President William Ruto for not shielding Wetangula from the impending axe in 2022, even though the region overwhelmingly supported him.
The residents remembered President Ruto’s 2022 visit to the area, during which he promised to assist Wetangula in obtaining his current position in the National Assembly, during the nonviolent protests.
Residents claim that the demonstrators’ appeal for the opposition lawmakers to respect the speaker’s office sparked the political maneuver to impeach Wetangula.
Due to a traffic jam along the Bungoma-Kisumu Highway caused by the hours-long protests, drivers were forced to find alternate routes.
Less than a week had passed since Starehe MP Amos Mwango threatened to launch a vote of censure against Speaker Wetangula for not resigning.
Speaking on February 11, Mwango accused Wetangula of being incompetent, claiming that his reckless choices were the cause of last year’s June and July uprising against the Finance Bill and other significant political criticism of the National Assembly.
In support of his position, the lawmaker cited a recent High Court decision that declared Wetangula’s dual roles as speaker and leader of the Ford-Kenya party to be unlawful.
MP Mwango’s attempt to get Wetangula fired also came after a three-judge panel ruled that Wetangula had broken the constitution by declaring President Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza the majority coalition in parliament.
The court invalidated Speaker Wetnagula’s judgment and declared Azimio la Umoja the majority coalition, ruling that the speaker had no valid justification for giving Kenya Kwanza the majority role.
