Last year, legislators were angered by revelations of the infamous Ruaraka land saga that implicated Interior CS Fred Matiang’i and the education PS Belio Kipsang, prompting them to initiate a motion to remove the two from power.
The two were accused of orchestrating the saga, that led to the loss of Ksh1.5 billion taxpayers money on land that had been declared public.
The two houses, Parliament and Senate, prepared reports regarding the Ksh1.5 billion saga that threatened to tear apart the ruling party, Jubilee. A report by the National Assembly did not find fault on Matiang’i, while another by the Senate that had adversely mentioned him was rejected.
Read: CS Matiang’i Fraudulently Paid For Ruaraka Land, Court Says
The grounds under which the Senate report was rejected were questionable, with the recent utterances by Kericho Senator Aaron Cheruiyot revealing how Jubilee senators skipped the voting process to shoot down the report.
According to a Hansard report of the fateful day, November 27, out of 47 elected senators, only 19 participated in the vote, 15 supporting it while four voted to defeat it.
With that, the report by Senate County Public Accounts and Investment Committee (CPAIC) which would have seen Matiang’i ousted was defeated on technical grounds for lack of numbers.
Jubilee has a total number of 25 elected senators, of whom only four participated in the vote, voting against it. The four include Senate Majority Leader Kipchumba Murkomen (Elgeyo Marakwet), Samson Cherargei (Nandi), Susan Kihika (Nakuru) and Gideon Moi (Baringo).
Read: Meshack Dehay Reveals How Evans Kidero And Francis Mburu Crafted The Ruaraka Land Deal
Recently, Cheruiyot revealed that he led the mass walk out that denied the motion the much needed numbers.
“About six months ago, some people brought some issues against CS Matiang’i in the Senate. DP Ruto summoned me to his office and when I went there I found the CS. When we went to the Senate, I led a walkout of Jubilee senators from the chambers and the motion was defeated,” he claimed.
However, according to Makueni Senator Mutula Kilonzo, the walkout was meant to save Kipsang and not Matiang’i, terming the CS as a beneficiary of circumstances.
“What Cheruiyot is not telling the country is they were protecting Kipsang, and that Matiang’i just happened to be a beneficiary of their action,” he said.
In an outburst, Matiang’i denied being in such a meeting with DP Ruto, urging Cheruiyot to stop lying to ‘his people’.
“I have never been in that (DP’s) office, neither have I met him, let us stop lying in church. The lies people spread in public forums must stop,” said Matiang’i.
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