The row pitting Sports Cabinet Secretary Rashid Echesa against opposition chief Raila Odinga escalated after an MP allied to the ODM leader engaged in a fist fight with the minister at the Kisumu International Airport.
Alego Usonga MP Samuel Atandi is said to have started the argument with Mr Echesa over the minister’s comments linking Mr Odinga to an alleged plot to kick him out of the Cabinet.
Amid rife speculations of a looming Cabinet reshuffle,Echesa stirred heated debate on Saturday when he sensationally claimed that ODM leader Raila Odinga is promising his job to opposition supporters.And this is because the Sports Minister is a close ally of DP William Ruto
Mr Echesa’s remarks came amid speculation that President Uhuru Kenyatta is planning to sack some of the ministers mentioned in corruption scandals, or those who have failed in their roles to pave way for opposition figures allied to Mr Odinga following the duo’s March 9 peace deal.
Mr Echesa, who had previously worked with ODM, said the opposition leader had “been acting as if he is in government” after the handshake. “This government is led by President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Deputy William Ruto, and Raila should stop intimidating those of us who have been appointed to serve as Cabinet secretaries as if he has become an appointing authority,” Mr Echesa told Nation in an interview.
Mr Echesa claimed that Mr Odinga had held a meeting with 17 western Kenya MPs and Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya “promised” to have him sacked in favour of other leaders from the region allied to the opposition leader.
During the rant, the minister dared Mr Odinga to engineer his removal, claiming only President Uhuru Kenyatta could sack him.
But it seems the rant has not gone well with leaders allied to the DP with Atandi’s confrontation the latest in a series of attacks aimed at the CS. Sources at the airport revealed to the Nation, the two engaged in a fist fight after Mr Atandi told the minister to ‘go to school’ during the heated argument on Monday afternoon.
*Differences Between Raila and Achesa.*
1. Raila is an Engineer Achesa is a class 7 dropout illiterate.
2. Raila communicates 11 languages including Chinese, Italian and speaks in tongues… https://t.co/XtECgqgQPs— Muthui Mkenya ?? (@MuthuiMkenya) August 7, 2018
The duo’s aides and airport security intervened to separate them, but the MP was temporarily held before being released.
When contacted, the MP denied being held at the airport but admitted he had a verbal altercation with the minister that “did not escalate into a fight.”
However, his close associates told a local newspaper that, the quarrel started when the MP confronted the minister demanding he shows respect to Mr Odinga, who is a statesman.
What Raila Odinga can see in his dream while asleep Rashid Achesa can not even imagine in an exam room
— Babu Owino (@Babu_Owino) August 6, 2018
Earlier, nominated MP Godfrey Osotsi threatened to table impeachment motion against Mr Echesa for incompetence if he was not going to apologise for ‘insults’ he hurled at Mr Odinga. Mr Echesa was once Mr Odinga’s muscle man during the Pentagon years of the Orange Democratic Movement ten years ago, but has since decamped to the Jubilee Party.
When he was nominated a Cabinet secretary, questions arose over his qualification as he has no formal education beyond primary school.
But the National Assembly endorsed him, largely because opposition Nasa MPs had boycotted sittings at the time. Last week, claims emerged that some leaders were plotting to impeach him, a plot the minister claims was hatched by Mr Odinga.