This archive report was first published on 24 May 2020.
On May 22, 2020, the Senate chamber witnessed a dramatic scene as former Deputy Speaker Kithure Kindiki faced his colleagues, who had been plotting his ouster for over a week.
Kindiki, a seasoned politician and professor of law, had been accused of disloyalty to the party leader, a transgression that often results in political death.
As the debate on his ouster began, Kindiki's colleagues delivered a eulogy that was more like a political funeral. They used flowery language to bury him, with some offering unpalatable platitudes.
However, Kindiki's comrade, Elgeyo Marakwet Senator Kipchumba Murkomen, tried to turn the house into a court, requesting formal charges to be presented against Kindiki. But his request was met with resistance from lawyers and non-lawyers alike.
Siaya Senator James Orengo charged that a motion to remove the Speaker or Deputy Speaker is not a trial, and that Murkomen should sit down and learn the Standing Orders.
Despite Murkomen's attempts to defend himself, the debate eventually got back on course, and Kindiki's fate was sealed. Narok Senator Ledama ole Kina had already told him, 'Your goose is cooked,' and Kakamega Senator Cleophas Malala had sounded the death knell with his surreal gravely voice, saying, 'We loved you but the Jubilee Party loved you more.'
Kindiki's seven-year political experience had apparently taught him little about politics, and in the end, his last-minute pledge of loyalty to the president could not save him.
