Suna East MP Junet Mohammed, who is Raila Odinga’s confidant, has spilled more beans on the plans to impeach president Uhuru Kenyatta by DP William Ruto.
Junet who spoke to The Nation now claims that Ruto approached Odinga to help him overthrow the head of state and in return, he would become the deputy president while his ODM associates would assume half of the top government position soon after the 2017 elections.
The constitution allows the DP to take over as president for the remaining term if the president is removed from office and that is how easily Ruto would have assumed power.
Junet said that he was part of the team that was involved in the discussions that took place in Karen at a private residence. He added that the meetings were funded by a tycoon from Rift Valley who had lost government tenders which he blamed president Kenyatta’s allies
“The deal was too enticing to us but we had to weigh it carefully. Why would we settle for the Number Two slot when our party leader was himself more qualified for the top job?” Junet posed.
President Kenyatta’s ouster began soon after he was elected in 2017 but was slowed after the Supreme Court nullified the presidential elections. The plans picked up again after being re-elected again and the first active engagement was organized in January 2018.
According to Junet, Ruto came up with the plan after he sensed betrayal from Kenyatta’s side. He was not comfortable with the president’s term of governance for his second term.
“The President hosted a Jubilee parliamentary group meeting at State House soon after he was declared the winner. In that meeting, it became clear that the honeymoon with his deputy was over. Mr Kenyatta told his party’s rank and file that he would not share power with anyone. The remarks alarmed his deputy as it meant it would not be business as usual,” the lawmaker said.
ODM was tasked with mobilizing 100 lawmakers from the Senate and National Parliament and rest, 134, was DP’s responsibility for the impeachment to go through.
ODM, which was the opposition then, was to move the motion. Junet added that MPs would have been bribed with Kshs 300,000-500,000 to vote in favor of the motion.
“We did not commit to the plan immediately, but retreated to interrogate the proposal first. The overriding thinking was that we were just smarting from a grueling election and this was not in our best interest, and Mr Odinga felt that route was a sure way of taking the country back to the drain again,” Junet said.
He further said that ODM pulled out of the plan after a powerful minister from Nyanza gave him a stern warning of what their intentions would result in, after the government got wind of the plans.
“A senior and powerful minister from Nyanza called me with a stern warning. He asked why we wanted to take the country down the hill, why we wanted to destroy the country. It got us thinking, because with the government already in the picture, we needed to be careful on our moves. That’s when Raila chose to tell Uhuru the full extent of the plan,” Junet revealed to Nation.
Junet’s explosive revelation comes just days after Raila denied knowledge of any plans to impeach president Kenyatta.
The plans to impeach president Kenyatta came into the limelight after his meeting with Gikuyu elders last weekend. DP Ruto has vehemently denied being involved with such sinister motives while accusing the head of state of using the statehouse to spread propaganda and lies against him.
RELATED STORY: DP Ruto Desperately Attempts To Prove His Loyalty To President Uhuru Kenyatta(Video)
