“Wacha Ujinga Ichungwah” Opposition MPs Turn Parliament Into A Shouting Match After His Brain Jab

It began as a defence of a colleague and ended as a shouting match. National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah was in full flow on the floor of the House when opposition-affiliated MPs erupted, chanting “Wacha Ujinga Ichungwa’h” and ordering him to use his brain.

The spark was a claim by Embakasi West MP Mark Mwenje that Ndia MP George Kariuki, popularly known as GK, was busy campaigning to be deputy president. Ichung’wah did not deny it. Instead, he waved it away with a shrug. “There is nothing wrong with that. Absolutely nothing wrong,” he told the House, insisting that everyone in the chamber carries an ambition, “including the Honourable GK.”

Then the tone turned sharp. Ichung’wah said the real offence is not ambition but blind loyalty. “It is only wrong when members of Parliament who are elected by their people abandon their heads, their brains, and follow another man who cannot be anything and who cannot take them anywhere,” he said, calling it “the most disastrous thing that can happen.” With a pointed warning, he added that he was naming no names unless someone felt guilty.

He did not need to. Many in the chamber understood the jab to be aimed at former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, whom the Majority Leader has previously argued cannot hold public office because of his impeachment, a view his critics firmly reject. The reaction came almost instantly, as voices from the opposition benches rose into a roar of heckling.

Ichung’wah tried to push on, turning to an episode involving Starehe constituency. The noise was too much. His words were swallowed by the chants, the story never finished, and the chamber slid into disorder.

The scene captures just how charged Kenya’s politics has become with the 2027 General Election drawing closer. As the rift between President William Ruto and Gachagua continues to shape the contest for Mt Kenya’s votes, even a routine debate in Parliament can flare into a full political showdown.

KelvNews feedback-opera-news-app@opera.com