Wetangula’s fate to be known today

National Super Alliance Senators will hold a parliamentary group meeting on Tuesday, March 20 to elect a new Minority Leader who will replace Bungoma Senator Moses Wetangula.

The NASA Senators are set to meet at the Senate Lounge in parliament buildings at 9am.

Wetangula’s removal seemed to be a done deal on Thursday last week when the ODM Party Senators wrote to Speaker Ken Lusaka informing him of their resolve to kick out Wetangula from the Minority Leader’s position.

A call to eject Wetangula as the Senate Minority Leader was presented to the Senate Speaker on Thursday, March 15.

Twenty out of NASA’s 27 Senators signed in favour of Mr. Wetangula’s ouster, surpassing the required two-thirds majority by two.

The Speaker okayed Mr. Wetangula’s removal though he suspended the move until NASA submits the name of their new Minority Leader.

Mr. Wetangula said he felt betrayed by his NASA counterparts, but played up the consequences of the ODM Senators action.

He warned his opposition counterparts to prepare for a “noisy, messy and unhelpful” divorce in the NASA coalition.

“I want to say this, Mr. Speaker: If anybody wants a divorce, it would be messy, it would be noisy, it would be unhelpful, it would not be easy, it would have casualties,” said a visibly angry Wetangula.

“I want to tell my colleagues in ODM for avoidance of any confusion that for the last two presidential elections, we have supported a candidate fronted by ODM; and that is the reason they have a bigger number in both Houses than their partner parties.”

In response, Homa Bay Senator Moses Kajwang’ said ODM’s decision to purge Mr. Wetangula as Minority Leader was hinged on a need for a “better leader” in the Senate.

“We have removed Wetangula as the Minority Leader; not because he has not led us well, but because we think there are people who can lead us better,” said Mr Kajwang.

The NASA coalition has a total of 28 senators in parliament; 20 from ODM, four from Wiper and three from the Amani National Congress. FORD-Kenya, also a NASA affiliate party, has only one Senator – Wetangula himself.

Mr. Wetangula’s woes come after NASA leader Raila Odinga called a truce with President Uhuru Kenyatta, but a section of the NASA summit, including the Bungoma Senator, Kalonzo Musyoka and Musalia Mudavadi, felt side-stepped in the Kenyatta-Odinga pact.

Wetangula, Kalonzo and Mudavadi have been at loggerheads with their ODM counterparts after they skipped the mock swearing in of Mr. Odinga as the People’s President in January.

Sources within the coalition indicate that Siaya Senator James Orengo, has been endorsed to take up the Senate Minority Leader’s position.