Why Ruto ordered his allies to drop Matiangi’s impeachment plan

Early this week, National Assembly minority leader Hon John Mbadi blew a whistle on plans by Deputy President Dr William Ruto’s allies to impeach Interior Cabinet Secretary Dr Fred Matiang’i on the grounds of the fake gold scandal in which he has been mentioned.

While appearing in an interview with Citizen TV on Wednesday night on a show dubbed JKLIVE, Hon Mbadi insisted that he had got the information from some of the leaders from the Jubilee side.

But one of DP Ruto’s allies who appeared in the same interview with Mbadi, the Nandi County Senator Samson Cherargey dismissed the allegations, saying that it is as fake as the gold in question.

His remarks came after National Assembly majority leader Hon Aden Duale had also dismissed the allegations arguing that there was no any plan to impeach Dr Matiang’i on any grounds.

But sources have it that on Tuesday night the DP told his troops to drop their bid to remove Matiang’i.

The DP, who is said to be at odds with Matiang’ i, warned that the plan would undermine his 2022 presidential prospects. Matiang’i has been elevated as the ‘first among ministers’, a move seen to be an attempt to cut Ruto down to size.

A key Ruto ally who is aware of the DP’s instructions said that the “boss” was categorical that the plot would destroy his chances of winning the crucial Kisii vote.

“As much as we have the numbers to impeach the CS, the boss (DP) was clear that we keep off the matter. We were ready to move on with this but he told us he is building friendships with the leadership of that region and he wouldn’t want us to antagonise the journey,” an MP from Rift Valley was quoted by a local daily.

“There is no impeachment process going on within the precincts of Parliament as per the standing orders on any CS or PS for that matter, including the CS of the Interior,” Duale said.

Speaking at a press conference in his Parliament office, Duale appeared to blame his minority counterpart John Mbadi for politicising the war against corruption.

“Our advice is that they (the opposition) should not politicise and drag people’s names, including that of CS Matiang’i, into the ongoing gold scam investigations,” he said.

Some MPs were said to use the presence of security officers at a gold-holding house in Kileleshwa as the basis of a charge of gross misconduct against Matiang’i.

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