- Senator Karungo Thangwa was expelled from the Senate after arguing with his colleagues over remarks about ODM leader Oburu Oginga
- The confrontation stemmed from Thangwa’s remarks about a video that went viral online involving President William Ruto and Oburu during the ODM anniversary dinner
- Senators Eddy Oketch and Samson Cherargei contested Thangwa’s claims, demanding his withdrawal and apology
Kiambu Senator Karungo Thangwa was expelled from the Senate on Tuesday, November 18.
Source: UGC
This followed the heated debate caused by the allegations surrounding ODM party leader Oburu Oginga and the President William Ruto during ODM’s 20th anniversary dinner in Mombasa.
At an event on November 15, Ruto attended the ODM founders’ dinner, where a cake was cut to mark the party’s success.
A brief moment captured on camera showed Ruto giving Oburu a piece of cake on a fork. Oburu chewed it, then released the excess from his mouth, an act that later became the center of political opinion.
Contributing to the argument about complaints about poor services under the Community Health Authority (SHA), Thangwa said health insurance is failing Kenyans.
“When we keep children in custody in the hospital, that shows the county government of this county that is accused by the national government is not working, speaker,” he said.
Senator of UDA he claimed the situation in the country shows that no one is safe, listing unborn children, infants, toddlers and adults.
What Thangwa said about Ruto feeding Oburu Oginga cake
He then added a joke referring to Oburu and Ruto’s cake time.
“We saw the other day, the leader of the ODM party gave a cake after being bitten by the president. You know he was spitting out a piece of cake. That shows that no one is safe in this country, and if we don’t talk about it, there will be a problem,” Thangwa said.
Before he could finish his speech, Migori senator Eddy Oketch interrupted him.
“Mr. Speaker, the leader of the ODM party, the wisest party leader in the country, with a lot of experience, is a member of this parliament. He is a senator representing Siaya county. Most importantly, he is a courageous, kind and valuable person. I have not seen Thangwa anywhere in Mombasa. Is it to blame the leader of the ODM party with bad intentions, especially when he is not here?” Oketch said.
He asked the speaker to force Thangwa to delete the statement and apologize to Oburu.
The speaker instructed the Kiambu member of parliament to delete the statement, noting that a member of parliament cannot debate another member of parliament who is not present in parliament without a basic argument.
Thangwa hesitated, saying that the moment was recorded on videos that went viral.
“Madam Speaker, I want to cancel the statement that the leader of the ODM party spat out the cake he was eating saying he never swallowed it. Thank you very much, I withdraw and apologize,” he said.
Source: Twitter
Why was Karungo Thangwa expelled from the Senate?
A few minutes later, the Nandi senator Samson Cherargei he urged the speaker to take action against Thangwa for delaying the order.
“Madam Speaker, I want to invite you to throw out the member of parliament so that he can go and say those things in public meetings and not on the floor of the parliament,” Cherargei said, citing standing order 122 on disorderly conduct.
The Speaker decided that Thangwa had withdrawn and apologized as he had no evidence.
However, when Thangwa stood up to speak again, his microphone was cut off and the speaker told him that his time was up.
Thangwa objected, saying that two senators had taken his time. He refused to sit down despite repeated orders from the speaker.
As the disturbance grew, the speaker ordered the standing sergeant to remove him.
“You are out of order. Now I order you to leave the Senate for the whole day. Get out. Sergeant, let him leave the premises of the Parliament for the whole day,” the speaker said as he was escorted out.
Why was Khalwale forced out of the Senate?
In a related development on the same day, Kakamega senator Boni Khalwale was dramatically kicked out of the Senate after he refused to withdraw remarks linking the retired president Uhuru Kenyatta to the release of two Kenyan activists detained in Uganda.
The claim drew strong objections from Cherargei, with the speaker directing Khalwale to either prove the allegation or apologize.
Khalwale however stood his ground, and insisted he had nothing to retract. The standoff ended when he attempted to remain silent, prompting the speaker to rule him out of order.
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