Kithure Kindiki elected Senate Deputy Speaker

Professor Kithure Kindiki has been elected the Deputy Speaker of the Senate in an election that saw the opposition temporarily abandon their boycott of House business temporarily to unsuccessfully vote for their own, Mr Ledama ole Kina of ODM.

The National Super Alliance had on Wednesday ordered its affiliates to boycott Parliamentary business saying the House is illegally constituted.

The voting went into the second round with Prof Kindiki getting 38 votes out of the 55 senators present in the House. Mr Ole Kina garnered 17 votes in both instances.

SWORN IN

Soon after, Prof Kindiki, escorted to the chair by Majority Leader Kipchumba Murkomen and Majority Whip Susan Kihika, was sworn in by Speaker Kenneth Lusaka.

He thanked the senators for electing him, saying it was the greatest honour in his political career.

In the last Senate, he served as Majority Leader, a position he ceded to Mr Murkomen.

“I will eternally be indebted to the senators and Jubilee Party for the great privilege and I promise to serve this nation with dedication and humility,” he said.

After the voting, Nasa legislators rejected the request by the Speaker to submit names of their nominees to the Senate Business Committee (SBC) and instead left the chambers to continue their boycott.

However, the House went on to debate and approve Jubilee Party nominees to SBC, which is a powerful committee that sets the agenda of the House.

The Jubilee Party senators on the committee are Mr Murkomen, Ms Kihika, Ms Fatuma Dullo (Isiolo), Mr Mohamud Maalim (Mandera), Mr Johnson Sakaja (Nairobi) and Mr Samwel Poghisio (West Pokot).