MP stirs House after calling Othaya lawmaker 'Wambui Kibaki'

National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi (R) accompanied by Kiminini MP Chris Wamalwa at a past function. PHOTO: FILE

NAIROBI: An MP on Thursday caused a stir in the House when he referred to Othaya MP as "Wambui Kibaki" instead of using her proper name which is Mary Wambui Munene. In a bid to show that there were "rich women" who didn't need a special kitty to vie in elections, Kiminini MP Chris Wamalwa mentioned "Wambui Kibaki" as one of the wealth women.

The oddity in Wamalwa's utterances is that he rekindled what former President Mwai Kibaki was forced to denounce at a news conference in Nairobi – that he didn't have a second wife.

Wamalwa, a first-term lawmaker and the Deputy Minority Whip spoke as he contributed to the Political Parties (Amendment) Bill which had proposed a Special Election Fund to support women candidates to vie for the polls. Mary Wambui succeeded former President Mwai Kibaki as the MP for Othaya Constituency.

MPs laughed out loudly as they heard Wamalwa mention 'Wambui Kibaki' but the MP repeated the name at least four times, and appeared not to realise that he was putting what retired President dismissed as "lies" on the record of the House.

Kibaki refuted widely publicized reports that Wambui was his second wife and insisted that any reports about a second wife and second family were "lies".

"I want to state something that I wanted you to hold dear and permanently in your hearts. You know and I know and everybody else knows that I am married and I have only one wife. Everyone in Kenya knows it. But the media keeps repeating about my having another wife or wives. I want to make it very clear that I have only one dear wife Lucy, and I do not have any other. And anybody who knows me and knows my family and knows how I live will know that I have only one wife. And they do not expect any diversion from the reality of life by people telling lies," said Kibaki in news conference in 2009.

He was reacting to reports by Senior Counsel Paul Muite who appeared to allude to a second family.
"I decided to make it public and to appeal to you the public to listen to what I say but not to continue dispelling lies all over the place. It does not help anyone anywhere and it cannot be anywhere near the truth because the truth is known," said Kibaki back then.

Wambui was not in the House and no lawmaker alerted Deputy Speaker Joyce Laboso about it.