I can’t engage in a political war with Uhuru – Kang’ata
Senate Majority Whip Irungu Kangata says he cannot engage in a political war with President Uhuru Kenyatta but will bow out of his senate position respectfully in the event he is sacked.
Mr Kang’ata triggered a political storm last week when he declared the BBI constitutional amendment Bill was facing legitimacy challenges in Mt Kenya and called for the president’s personal intervention to salvage the situation.
But while addressing the mourners at the burial of ANC leader Musalia Mudavadi’s mother on Saturday, Mr Kenyatta criticised the senator for “writing letters to lecture me” and declared he was fully in charge of his government.
On Monday, Mr Kangata defended his action on the looming Building Bridges Initiative referendum saying it was not meant to annoy the President but to tell him the truth on the situation on the ground.
“I cannot enter into an arena of fighting with my boss but I only strongly believe it is important as political leaders to say the truth. To report the truth and to be honest and candid in our endeavor when it comes to matters like this one which has the potentiality to embarrass the government,” he told the media on Monday.
The Senate Majority Whip said he has always been respectful and a great supporter of the President as he is his personal friend, arguing that he will take it respectfully should he be fired.
“If for any reason removal was to occur, there is nothing I can do. I will thank the party for that period I have served them as their leader and I will remain respectful and loyal to my superiors and authorities.”
He admitted to having authored the controversial December 30, 2020 letter which warned President Kenyatta on the bleak prospects the BBI process is facing in his Mt Kenya backyard.
He wrote the letter in his capacity as the whip in the Senate, he said, to warn the authorities on the imminent dangers the process faces before it comes to the House.
“As a whip I routinely do some risk assessment over every Bill come to the House and report to my superiors.”
On being tagged a ‘tangatanga’ mole, the Murang’a senator rejected the tag blaming the claim on a bad culture in Kenya where good ideas are “bastardised and weaponised” for political reasons.
He similarly accused the National Assembly Majority Leader Amos Kimunya of exclusion and discrimination in executing his duties and that such tendencies had permeated BBI campaigns in Mt Kenya region.