Sonko now dares Karua to expel him from party

By VITALIS KIMUTAI

Makadara MP Gidion Mbuvi alias Sonko has dismissed as inconsequential planned disciplinary action against him by Narc Kenya over his support for the PNU alliance.

Mbuvi dared the party leadership to go ahead and expel him from the party if they so wished for allegedly contravening the Political Parties Act and Narc Kenya’s constitution.

Mbuvi has been given seven days to "show cause why disciplinary action should not be taken" against him for campaigning for Kamukunji MP-elect Yusuf Hassan of PNU in the recent by-election.

"We wish to draw your attention to Article 7 of the party constitution and Section 17 (4) and 17 (7) of the Political Parties Act (2007) with regard to your conduct as Narc Kenya party member," the party’s Secretary General Danson Mungatana wrote in a letter to Mbuvi on August 18. The letter is copied to Speaker of the National Assembly Kenneth Marende and the Registrar of Political Parties Lucy Ndungu.

But yesterday Mbuvi, while addressing a fundraiser at Our Lady of Visitation Catholic Church along Nairobi’s Jogoo Road, said he would not be shaken by the alleged intimidation by the party on whose ticket he was elected to Parliament.

"I want to tell my sister and party leader Martha Karua to shed her dictatorial tendencies," Mbuvi said. "I will not apologise and I am ready to go to the poll if they kick me out. I am confident that I would be re-elected with a landslide."

Sonko claimed that his differences with Karua started when he declared his support for Kanu chairman and Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta in his quest for the presidency. "Uhuru is my friend and I am not going to abandon him. I will rally behind him to the end," he said.

Mbuvi and Juja MP William Kabogo joined Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka, Uhuru and several Cabinet ministers last Tuesday in campaigning for Yusuf in Kamukunji.

Karua was at the time campaigning for Narc Kenya candidate Brian Weke in the area. Yusuf won the election after garnering 19,030 votes followed by ODM’s Ibrahim Ahmed (Johnny) with 15,517 votes while Weke (4,064 votes) was third.

Party to beat

Meanwhile, four MPs including two Cabinet ministers hailed PNU’s victory in the Kamukunji by-election saying, it would be the party to beat in the 2012 General Elections.

Public Health Minister Beth Mugo, Water assistant minister Ferdinand Waititu, Makadara MP Gidion Mbuvi and the Kamukunji MP-elect Yusuf Hassan said PNU had clearly demonstrated that it had a large following and would form the next government.

"Prime Minister Raila Odinga is on record saying the results of the Kamukunji by-election would be a pointer to the people’s preference in the next general election. Indeed, the people have spoken and the PNU alliance is their party of choice," Mugo said.

Waititu expressed confidence that Uhuru would beat the other contestants in a joint party nomination ahead of the elections.

The MPs were speaking at Our Lady of Visitation Catholic Church along Nairobi’s Jogoo Road where Uhuru presided over a fundraising drive also attended by former Makadara MP Reuben Ndolo and businesswoman Roselyn Njeri.

But Ndolo told Uhuru to gun for the presidency alone saying G7 alliance members were misleading him to join a tribal outfit. "Some of the leaders who are enticing you are the same ones who contributed to the tribulations you are now facing over the post-election violence," he warned.

Uhuru who spoke for a record one minute avoided politics saying he had gone to the church only to fundraise but not address other issues. Yusuf thanked voters for electing him in last Thursday’s poll.