Nyeri Governor Mutahi Kahiga has hit back at UDA secretary general Cleophas Malala who on Wednesday named him among party leaders he said are disrespecting the presidency.
In an interview later in the day, Kahiga responded to Malala’s hard-hitting remarks in which he said, “Let this be a stern warning; desist from such actions with immediate effect.”
To begin with, Kahiga, said “Any threats from Malala are hot air.”
The former Kakamega Senator was picked by UDA as interim secretary general on February 27, 2023.
Speaking during an interview with Spice FM on July 5 this year while defending his attendance at Cabinet meetings, Malala said he took the oath of secrecy to advise the president.
“I come in to advise him (president) on matters politics and to make sure that the manifesto on which we were elected is being implemented by the cabinet,” Malala affirmed.
But Kahiga said part of the agenda during the ongoing grassroots elections which started on April 26 is to get rid of Malala.
“One of the targets must be that we will be able to get him out of that position,” he said.
The governor reiterated his previous remarks that any position holder in any party must be of value and claims Malala has not brought any new membership to the ruling outfit since ditching ANC.
“Unfortunately, that is not feasible,” he said.
Kahiga affirmed that he still stands by what he said on May 17 regarding respect to Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua amid a smouldering political row between President Ruto’s axis and that of the DP.
While speaking during a burial in Mathira, Nyeri county, Kahiga claimed some powerful forces in UDA and Kenya Kwanza government were out to undermine the DP and bring him down.
It was on this backdrop that Malala fired a warning at Kahiga, Githunguri MP, Gathoni Wa Muchomba and her Kapseret counterpart Oscar Sudi whose recent public sentiments he said were disrespectful to the presidency.
“Your recent conduct not only undermines the party’s unity but also disrespects the leadership that you pledged to serve.
“Let this be a stern warning; desist from such actions with immediate effect. Should this behaviour persist, the party will take disciplinary action against you,” Malala said in his statement.
Kahiga said such remarks border on infringement on their freedom of speech.
“We have come from an era where we were gagged, you could not say what you thought we could not speak our minds we were almost denied our freedom of expression. Unfortunately, we are heading in the same direction,” he said.
“The UDA party and Kenya Kwanza government was never founded on such tenets…and therefore it’s my pledge that we must keep on being allowed to speak, we will speak our minds and we will continue speaking.”
