Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Minister reads mischief in delay to elect party whip

FILE | NATION. PNU acting Chief Whip Johnstone Muthama. Top leaders in the Party of National Unity are deliberately delaying the appointment of a chief whip according to a minister.

By CHARLES WANYORO, cwanyoro@ke.nationmedia.com and LUCAS BARASA, lbarassa@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Monday, October 18 2010 at 21:39
In Summary

Basic rivalry hits PNU coalition

2008: The year Mr George Thuo was elected PNU chief whip after the 2007 election.
He lost the seat when the High Court nullified his election as Juja MP.
2010: Mr Muthama is ODM-Kenya chief whip and deputised Mr Thuo. He has been acting since July. Mr Thuo was a Kanu MP.


Top leaders in the Party of National Unity are deliberately delaying the appointment of a chief whip, according to a minister.
Agriculture assistant minister Kareke Mbiuki said key individuals in government were questioning the loyalty of Igembe South MP Mithika Linturi.

He said several meetings to choose the successor to former Juja MP George Thuo had aborted after it emerged many MPs were backing Mr Linturi.

“They are afraid that he may not be loyal to the government and view him as rebellious. But the fear is misplaced because everyone has a past which should not be used to judge the future. I can assure you that Mr Linturi is committed to serving the government,” said Mr Mbiuki on Monday.

The Nithi MP said those opposed to Mr Linturi were buying time by delaying the election in the hope that Kangundo MP Johnstone Muthama garners enough support.

He said Kanu MPs wanted one of their own to replace Mr Thuo, who was a party lawmaker.

“There are intense lobbying and horse trading but we want the post to go to a Kanu MP,” he said.

The assistant minister claimed Kanu party leader and Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta supported Mr Linturi’s bid.

He said Mr Kenyatta initially supported Ndaragwa MP Jeremiah Kioni for the seat but switched to Mr Linturi following the former’s withdrawal from the race.

“It would be unfair for the seat to go to Mr Muthama since the Leader of Government Business (Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka) also hails from his region. We are seeking regional balancing,” he said.

In a separate interview, Mr Muthama said he was not bothered about the jostling for the position.

“Things are going on well. What I would like is to get an assistant or deputy,” Mr Muthama said.

The Kagundo MP said he had successful worked with the ODM Chief Whip Jakoyo Midiwo to form parliamentary committees.

The joint-coalition whips are crucial in rallying MPs to support government Bills in Parliament.

The PNU coalition has twice postponed a meeting to agree on who should be its chief whip. The position fell vacant following defeat of Mr Thuo in last month’s Juja by election.

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