Ruto's CS Defends Sabina Chege Amid Row With Jeremiah Kioni

Water and Sanitation Cabinet Secretary (CS) Alice Wahome criticised the Azimio la Umoja coalition led by former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, over their constant attacks on Nominated Member of Parliament (MP) Sabina Chege.

Wahome, in a statement on Twitter on Sunday, February 12, hit out at some of the Azimio principals, for singling out Chege on the basis of gender, even though she heavily campaigned for Raila in the run-up to the August 9 general elections.

Without mentioning embattled Jubilee Secretary-General Jeremiah Kioni, Wahome called for the coalition to stop demeaning women in power and for its leaders to stop attacking women anyhow.

"I condemn in the strongest terms possible the gender-based insults hurled at Hon Sabina Chege by unknown characters led by the Hon Raila Odinga whom she supported wholeheartedly under very difficult dynamics in her region. This demeaning of women leaders must stop," she wrote.

Wahome's defence came amidst threats by Kioni to torment Sabina Chege by using the 13th Parliament to frustrate her in Jubilee after she chose to work with the President William Ruto-led government.

Speaking during an Azimio rally in Busia on Sunday, February 12, Kioni lashed out at Chege over betraying the party, adding that he has ordered Members of Parliament (MP) elected under the Azimio la Umoja coalition to begin stripping her of her position as the Deputy Minority Whip of the National Assembly (NA) when the NA proceedings resume on Tuesday, February 14.

He further ordered nominated Senator Fatuma Dullo to resign from her seat on the basis of her newfound affiliations with the ruling Kenya Kwanza government, affirming that her seat belongs to the Azimio coalition, therefore she does not deserve it.

"We have got rid of the seat that we had given Sabina Chege of the Whip of the Minority and we are calling on Azimio MPs to ensure that she no longer holds the position from Tuesday because she has already joined Kenya Kwanza.

"Even her Senate counterpart Fatuma Dullo, who joined Kenya Kwanza should relinquish her seat because it belongs to Azimio," he declared.

Sabina Chege was nominated to the National Assembly after shelving her gubernatorial ambitions before the 2022 General Election and was among the Jubilee leaders who had joined President William Ruto and the Kenya Kwanza faction for a thanksgiving service in Nakuru County on Sunday.

During the meeting, the Leader of the Majority in the NA Kimani Ichung'wah assured her that she would not lose her seat for dumping Azimio, under party leader Raila Odinga, to work with the current government.

Kioni's move to order MPs to de-whip her could spark an all-out war between the two, coming just two days after she publicly blasted him for running the party like an informal business.

"Let Kioni know Jubilee party is not his own kiosk. He has never called us for any PG. He has never given us direction, so when he wakes up from his bed he cannot expect that we will follow him.

"Even when he went to represent us at the Azimio PG, he never invited us nor told us the agenda," stated Chege on Friday, February 9.

The lawmaker further defended her move to join forces with President Ruto's Kenya Kwanza government in the company of other Jubilee Party members, giving an example of former President Uhuru Kenyatta who she said decided to partner with Azimio leader, Raila Odinga, for the tranquillity of the country. 

Kioni was suspended as the Jubilee Party SG due to negligence and misconduct, with East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) Member of Parliament (MP) Kanini Kega taking his place. The party's National Executive Council (NEC) also expressed its plans to exit the Azimio coalition.