Mbadi got himself in trouble when he noted that the Ministry of Interior was right to strip off the security detail of a Governor, a Senator and three MPs drawn from Mount Kenya insisting that the move was not unique and should not raise any alarm/file
Mombasa Kenya, 26 Apr – There was drama in a National Assembly retreat in Mombasa County when the House Minority Leader John Mbadi was booed by majority of his colleagues mostly allied to Deputy President William Ruto after he appeared to defend the recent move by the Executive to withdraw the security details of some of the lawmakers.
Mbadi got himself in trouble when he noted that the Ministry of Interior was right to strip off the security detail of a Governor, a Senator and three MPs drawn from Mount Kenya insisting that the move was not unique and should not raise any alarm.
The Suba South lawmaker, made the situation worse when he asked his colleagues who are attending the second retreat of the National Assembly Leadership not to politicize the matter and allow the law enforcing agencies to do their work.
“What some of our colleagues are going through is not unique. Some of us have experienced that before and I ask members not to politicize this issue,” he said.
MPs Alice Wahome (Kandara), Catherine Waruguru (Laikipia), Khatib Mwashetani (Lunga Lunga) among others immediately in unison booed Mbadi while urging him to cut short his speech which could not be heard from the onset he made the remarks on the security touching on the MPs.
The intervention of Deputy Speaker Moses Cheboi to calm the members bore no fruit as the members booing increased as Mbadi was making his other presentations with the Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiangi who was a guest speaker at the function watching in dismay.
The retreat at one point was forced to go into a closed-door session with sources who spoke to Capital FM News on condition of anonymity revealing that Matiangi was expressly asked not to play with the safety of the MPs.
One MP said that it was shocking that the government could strip off the safety of the MPs without giving satisfactory reasons as to why such would pass.
In his past media briefing, Police Spokesperson Charles Owino, however, clarified that the move by the government to initiate was purely based on a routine exercise hence urging the politicians not to blow the issue out of proportion.
He particularly noted that the government would at no any given point jeopardize the security of government officials, sentiments however those affected and their allies believe are false and that the move was politically motivated.
Interior Principal Secretary Karanja Kibicho who effected the removal of the security detail has been under sharp criticism from the lawmakers who have accused him of playing petty politics at the expense of the safety of their security.
At the tail end of his presentation, the House Majority Leader Aden Duale also asked his colleagues not to politicize the matter.
Majority of the aggrieved legislators have publicly backed DP Ruto’s presidential bid in 2022 and during their public address in rallies they have said the stripping off of their security details was highly attributed to the fact they have pledged their alliance to DP Ruto.
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