JUSTICE and Constitutional Affairs minister Mutula Kilonzo has renewed his calls for Uhuru Kenyatta to resign as Deputy Prime Minister. Mutula cited last Friday's resignation of UK Energy and Climate minister Chris Huhne after he was charged with perverting the course of justice by asking his ex-wife to take responsibility for a 2003 speeding offense. Huhne's case has not yet come to court.
Mutula also sighted the latest Ipsos-Synovate opinion poll conducted last week which indicated that 62 per cent of Kenyans want Uhuru to quit as DPM. "Time is running out for Uhuru to quit," Mutula said yesterday. Uhuru resigned as Finance minister last month along with Civil Service boss Francis Muthaura who is also facing charges of crimes against humanity at the ICC. However, Uhuru did not resign as the deputy Prime Minister.
Mutula insisted that Uhuru's resignation cannot be pegged to a parliamentary censure motion as it is a totally different process. Uhuru could easily gather the numbers to defeat any censure motion brought to Parliament. Mutula argued that such action would defeat the aspirations of Chapter Six of the constitution which deals with leadership and integrity. “The UK minister's case is significant because it was a mere traffic offense which entailed deception. Yet the minister resigned without even the existence of a Chapter Six in the constitution. In fact, they do not have a written constitution in the UK but live on the ideals and tenets of constitutionalism,” he told the Star yesterday.
Mutula said that Uhuru's charges of crimes against humanity were far more serious that traffic offences. He said that by sticking to the post of DPM and defying advice and public opinion, Uhuru was sending the wrong message to the world and particularly to the ICC. Mutula said the two recent censure motions passed by Parliament involving former Finance minister Amos Kimunya and Foreign Affairs minister Moses Wetangula were brought because the two ministers had mislead Parliament rather than any criminal act they were suspected of. "Parliamentary censure is a question of numbers and integrity has got nothing to do with numbers. There is absolutely no rhyme or reason in Kenyan politics. Here politicians hop and dance like grasshoppers. You do not want to subject matters of integrity to that kind of politics,” he said.
Huhne was caught speeding by a police camera on a highway outside London in 2003 and falsely claimed that his wife was the drive to avoid having his license suspended. “Huhne's resignation was not even a question of law or culture. It's simple ethics. A sense of integrity and respect for the public. I have no idea why the deputy PM cannot see this,” Mutula said.
Mutula has also been insisting that Uhuru and Eldoret North MP William Ruto will be disqualified from standing in the presidential election because of the ICC charges His party leader Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka has publicly declared that Mutula has not been speaking for his Wiper Democratic Party.
Mutula said he had no apologies to make to anyone and reiterated his challenge to the party to kick him out. “Why would anyone fight me over my opinion on issues? They too have their own opinions, more often than not, very cheap ones. I have never fought them, not even now. I dare them to try," he said.
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