Former Senate Majority Leader Kipchumba Murkomen protested when one of the senators present in the House said he had been directed by Senator Beth Mugo, who was absent during the Kindiki-ouster voting, to cast her ballot in favour of the removal of the Tharaka Nithi Senator as Deputy Speaker of the Senate.
Murkomen stood before the House, and said it was unconstitutional for a senator to vote on behalf of another, who isn’t in the Senate, terming such a move as “rape” of the Constitution.
“Senator Beth Mugo was here in the morning, but because she got ill, I allowed her to leave,” explained Lusaka.
“Mr Speaker, we shouldn’t allow such raping of our Constitution,” said Murkomen, eliciting mixed reactions among the lawmakers, with Siaya Senator James Orengo saying such language should not be tolerated in the Senate.
In response, Lusaka said: “Let the voting continue, I will make a ruling at the end.”
However, at the tail-end of the voting, the Senate Majority Whip, Irungu Kang’ata, urged the Speaker to exclude Beth Mugo’s vote and that of another absent senator from being tallied.
“Exclude the two votes,” said Kang’ata.
Eventually, 54 senators voted in favour of Kithure Kindiki’s removal against seven, who voted in Kindiki’s support.
Speaker Lusaka said he had omitted -- from the final tally -- Senator Mugo’s vote and that of the other absent lawmaker.
