What Vote means to Big 3

President Uhuru Kenyatta signs into law the Finance Bill 2018 and Coast Guard Service Bill at State House Nairobi. The two Bills were presented for signing by National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi. Present during the signing were Deputy President William Ruto, National Assembly Majority Leader Aden Duale and Head of Public Service Joseph Kinyua. [Photo: Standard]

Thursday’s acrimonious vote has exposed the soft underbellies of three of the country’s top political leaders -- President Uhuru Kenyatta, his deputy William Ruto and opposition leader Raila Odinga.

The passage of the vote aside, signs are emerging of emboldened parliamentarians, a waning presidency ahead of retirement, lame-duck official opposition leader and a befuddled Deputy President.

Ideally, the political statement issued by the televised acts of defiance of party position in a matter of popular concern ought to move the trio into political introspection. But with one of them retiring and the election four years away from the other two, they were least trifled.

Yesterday, President Kenyatta signed the Finance Bill into law, met Ruto and Raila and flew away to New York leaving the pair to battle with public impressions that they sold them out.

In a brazen show of defiance to their party bosses, a section of MPs trashed their party positions to pitch for zero VAT on fuel products. It took the stratagem of house leadership led by speaker Justine Muturi and majority leader Aden Duale to force through the Bill.

On Tuesday, President Kenyatta hosted Jubilee MPs at State House and asked them to ensure the Bill was passed. But unknown to him was that the lawmakers were in total disagreement, a fact that played out during the passing of the law on Thursday.

Laikipia Woman Representative Catherine Waruguru (Jubilee) came out as the face of rebellion who not only opposed it on the floor but also vowed to move to court to challenge the legality of the passed Bill.

In a spate of raw anger, the MP who appeared to represent the repressed feelings of colleagues vowed to sponsor a motion of impeachment against Speaker Justin Muturi over the way “he forced the law” on them.

“We are saying we will not be intimidated, we are opposed to the over-taxation. We will not be intimidated,” said Waruguru.

In an almost equal measure, Ruaraka MP TJ Kajwang’ (ODM) was the star of the other side, taking on Minority Leader John Mbadi with unmistakable abandon:

“You can do me nothing”.

The flair up by Kajwang to his ODM chair and that by Waruguru to her Jubilee colleagues captured the fusion of the 12th Parliament that could spell a warning shot to Uhuru and Raila.

Notably, as Jubilee met Uhuru at State House, the ODM leader -- who holds sway and wields unmatched clout -- is understood to have marshaled less than 20 MPs on Tuesday from the National Super Alliance (NASA) fraternity to articulate common position on the controversial Finance Bill. 

In the poorly attended meeting at Orange House, sources say the Bill proved unpopular, hence Raila could not openly vouch for it before live cameras in the press conference, instead delegating to National Assembly Whip Junet Mohammed and  Mbadi.

Junet, Mbadi and their Homa Bay counterpart Gladys Wanga were on the receiving end in Parliament as they were jeered and booed by fellow compatriots every time they rose to contribute or lobby members. 

The scenes were in stark contrast to the security laws where ODM brigade mounted a monumental grandstanding led by Kajwang, Wanga, Millie Odhiambo and a host of other Opposition MPs. Before, Raila’s position in the party would almost likely be law unto itself.

Could Raila have given Uhuru his word to galvanize support and beat a hasty retreat upon realising the Bill could make him unpopular and far detached from Wanjiku, and further complicate his 2022 bid?

Loima MP John Lodepe said at one time, Raila told them to vote the way they wanted.

“We told him that we will not support the Bill and he told us to vote the way we felt,” said Lodepe. His argument could buttress the position that Raila was personally uncomfortable with the tax levies.

Understandably, his close ally and Siaya Senator James Orengo bitterly opposed the Bill, reinforcing the assertion that his party leader did not fully endorse the laws.

The power games and intrigues in the house thicken the plot of the handshake and how far and deep it can permeate the governance structure.

The assurance by the ODM leader could have lulled Jubilee to complacency and underestimate the threat of the Opposition and rebel MPs.

With over 140 MPs on the NASA coalition,  President Kenyatta could have banked on Raila for the unanimous support of the Bill and it came as a shocker that Raila did not put enough efforts on mobilising or was silently opposed to it.

To salvage the situation, Duale was frantically forced to employ unorthodox means to quell the simmering acrimony that threatened to veto the President’s memo.

MPs accused Duale of intimidation, coercion and bullying tactics that included confiscating voting cards, directing orderlies to open the door when the bell was ringing and stuffing some members in the toilet to starve the House of the requisite threshold to overide the President’s Memo.

After Duale’s intervention, the counting was ‘done’ and it emerged that with 215 legislators present, the quorum to vetoing the President’s memo collapsed and the majority leader’s stratagem worked.

“As majority leader, I am free to employ every tactic to ensure that the business of government is passed in the House. That is my priority number one,” said Duale

The defiance leaves MPs from ODM in a precarious situation as some, including Millie Odhiambo, alleging that they had been threatened of being campaigned against for defying the party leader.

The overt rebellion to the party bosses has had political pundits saying the taxes levied on wananchi will form critical talking points for the next three years and hence inform 2022 campaign agendas.

“It is a confirmation that handshake has taken effect. MPs can now pursue their selfish and public interest in equal measure unlike before. The new found  independence could find a life of its on and make Parliament independent,” said political analyst Dismas Mokua.

If Thursday’s vote would have taken place before the handshake, Mokua argue, those in Jubilee would have supported Kenyatta’s position without questioning the merits and demerits of his reservations.

On the same note, all NASA members would have opposed Uhuru’s reservation.

“Those in power should know that the illegal ways they have used against MPs have emblodened them to start stamping their authority. This will be good for Kenya,” said Kilifi North MP Owen Baya.