Parliament majority leader Aden Duale has faulted Senate minority leader James Orengo’s plan to impeach Deputy President William Ruto, terming it as an idea dead on arrival.
The Garissa township Mp says that Senator Orengo, who is a senior lawyer is either ignorant or is on a mission to mislead the public.
“The process cannot start in the Senate where he sits! Under Article 145 of the Constitution as read together with Art.150, the process can only originate in the National Assembly, where he does not sit!” says Duale.
Speaking during an event in Ugenya early this week, Orengo mentioned that Dr Ruto can be shown the door if it is found that he has violated the Constitution or any other law.
He noted that Article 150 of the Constitution can be used to throw out DP Ruto.
“I want to repeat here and now that the Senate together with the National Assembly, we want to bring a motion of impeachment to kick out DP Ruto from office,” Orengo asserted.
However, Duale said that the process can only be started by a sitting MP, and have signatures of not less than a third of MPs.
“Any MP wishing to start the process must have signatures of not less than a third of the entire membership of the National Assembly. In a House of 349, that translates to 117 MPs! That would be an uphill task for anyone- The idea will die even before it starts,” added Duale.
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The constitution also requires that such a motion be voted by two thirds of the MPs in the second stage, which in the current scenario is 233 members. “Getting 233 MPs to support anything is a political nightmare! We have tried it unsuccessfully more than 5 times in Bills to amend the Constitution,” he adds.
At this stage, article 145(3)(b) dictates that the Senate forms a committee of 11 to look into the matter.
The motion is then voted in the Senate where it requires a nod by two third of the senators. At this this stage, the Deputy President is accorded a chance to defend himself.
“In a House where Jubilee party enjoys super majority, that is definitely insurmountable. Our Constitution protects all Kenyans from cheap witch-hunt. My friend senator Orengo knows this too well, but he has chosen, once more, to market cheap and worthless fishing expeditions. He will not distract us from uniting our nation and the BIG 4 agenda,” says Duale.
Yesterday, speaking with Citizen TV’s Husein Mohamed, senator Orengo said that impeachment was his idea and not that of the party. He however said he would proceed with making the motion a success.
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