Why I disrupted President Uhuru’s speech – suspended MP Opiyo Wandayi

Suspended Ugunja Member of Parliament Opiyo Wandayi has defended his decision to disrupt President Uhuru Kenyatta’s State of the Nation address Thursday afternoon.

Wandayi, who had been picked out for blowing a whistle when President Kenyatta began his speech, defied the National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi’s orders to withdraw from the House forcing the Sergeant at Arms to forcefully hurtle him from Parliament Buildings.

In his directive to evict the legislators, Muturi said: “It is only fair that they (disruptive legislators) give the others who wish to listen to the address by the President the opportunity to do so.”

“I order that the Honourable Wandayi be forcefully ejected by the Sergeant at Arms from the Chambers,” ordered the Speaker.

In his defence, Wandayi said he could not sit and listen to President Kenyatta’s supposed Public Relations gimmick adding that Kenyans were tired of empty rhetoric.

Speaking after he was ejected, Wandayi said: “The country is annoyed. I cannot allow myself to listen to such a speech. Kenyans are tired of PR, they want action.”

“We are living under a new Constitutional dispensation. Parliament is a House for debate and that is why we sought to interrogate the State of the Nation address.”

He noted that the Standing Orders cannot supersede the Constitution which he said gives members a right to peacefully picket, demonstrate and express their opinion under Article 37.

In an interview on Citizen TV’s Opinion Court Thursday night, Wandayi claimed that there had been an antecedent plan by Jubilee legislators to punish opposition members noting that the Speaker should have been tolerant and listen to their grievances.

Consequences

According to the National Assembly Standing Order No. 111; “If any Member refuses to withdraw when required to do so, the Speaker or the Chairperson of Committee as the case may be, shall order such Member to be removed and such Member shall thereupon without question put be suspended from the service of the House during the remainder of the Session.”

During the suspension, the member shall “forfeit the right of access to the precincts of Parliament and the Sergeant-at-Arms shall take necessary action to enforce the order.”

This, therefore, means that Wandayi is barred from attending any session of Parliament until the end of the current session in December and will only be allowed back in February next year when the House resumes.

Additionally, Wandayi will not be entitled to any benefits and privileges accorded to Members of Parliament, allowances, or mileage. He will also not be allowed to sit in any committees of the House.

The suspended legislator will also lose his staff, though he will retain his salary.

Despite of this, the ODM Director of Political Affairs noted that he has no regrets saying the government got their intended message loud and clear.

Asked why he did not just boycott Uhuru’s address like Kakamega Senator Bonny Khalwale did, Wandayi said: “There are millions of ways of skinning a cat, this was our way of expressing our feelings.”

He further stated that he is ready to pay the price for his actions adding that others have paid an even higher price for Kenyans to enjoy the freedom they have today.

@benjaminwafula