Murang’a senator Joe Nyutu has lamented the recent reconstitution of committees in both the National Assembly and the Senate, stating that the exercise was a charade which ought not to have taken place.
Speaking during a live TV interview on Thursday, March 13, 2025, Nyutu observed that Mt Kenya leaders holding leadership positions in committees had been purged because of their supposed support for the former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua.
“Nobody wanted to reconstitute the committees. It was something concocted to kick out all the leaders from the Mount Kenya region, and anybody who voted ‘no’ or abstained from the motion of ousting Rigathi Gachagua was not allowed to survive as a chair in both houses,” Nyutu said.
Ndindi Nyoro
He particularly picked out Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro who lost the leadership of the powerful Budget and Appropriations Committee (BAC) to Alego Usonga MP Samuel Atandi who was elected unopposed.
Nyutu now says the government is targeting brilliant leaders from the Mount Kenya region and axing them from positions of influence and leadership to settle a political score.
“Ndindi Nyoro was not going to survive because this is a promising leader in Mount Kenya, and what the powers that be do not want to hear or see is any leader coming from Mt Kenya,” Nyutu indicated.
Purge continues
Nyoro was axed alongside Embakasi North MP James Gakuya who previously chaired the Trade and Industry Committee, Githunguri MP Gathoni Wamuchomba who chaired the Constitutional Implementation Oversight Committee (CIOC) and Runyenjes MP Karemba Muchangi who previously held the Labour committee, among others.
Speaking after the removal of Nyoro from BAC leadership on Wednesday, March 12, 2025, the leader of the Majority Party in the National Assembly Kimani Ichung’wah stated that the shake-up would result in serious changes in the allocation of resources to various parts of the country.
“We have now reconstituted a new Budget and Appropriations Committee. It will not be business as usual. This house will not sit back and allow members who sit in the BAC to appropriate money to only their constituencies at the expense of other Kenyans,” Ichung’wah noted.
Makueni senator Dan Maanzo, however, defended Nyoro, saying that his prudent utilization of the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) had earned him envy from MPs who steal money from the coffers.
“If people worked hard as Ndindi Nyoro, they would be very far. Any MP who does not steal SDF would do a lot in their constituency and they will always be re-elected back by their people,” Maanzo stated.
