Senate suspends Omtatah for 3 days over Ruto ‘Yapping’ remark

NAIROBI, Kenya—Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah was on Thursday ejected from the Senate and suspended for three sitting days after refusing to withdraw remarks in which he described President William Ruto as “yapping.”

Omtatah challenged Speaker Amason Kingi’s directive, arguing that the word was neither unparliamentary nor disrespectful and could be used to describe what he regarded as excessive political communication by the President.

“Yapping is not unparliamentary. Go and check the record of the Westminster Parliament,” Omtatah said while defending his remarks.

He also cautioned Kingi against what he described as a “slippery slope” in restricting debate in the Senate.

The Speaker, however, ruled that Omtatah was engaging the Chair instead of complying with an earlier directive to withdraw the word.

“I order you to leave the chamber for three sitting days consecutively. You may leave now,” Kingi said.

The Speaker warned that failure to leave could lead to the intervention of the Sergeant-at-Arms and a longer exclusion from the chamber.

“Don’t make me direct the Sergeant-at-Arms to come for you, because then that will amount to 90 days. Let’s observe decorum,” Kingi said.

The confrontation followed a ruling made during the previous sitting by the temporary Speaker, who determined that the word “yapping” was unparliamentary and directed Omtatah to withdraw it.

The matter was not concluded after Senator Mohamed Faki raised the issue of quorum, forcing the Senate to adjourn. It returned to the floor on Thursday when Omtatah was given another opportunity to comply with the directive.

Instead, the Busia senator sought to defend his choice of words, prompting the confrontation with the Speaker.

Kingi said he could not overturn the earlier ruling and was instead required to enforce the Senate Standing Orders.

“A determination was made yesterday by the temporary Speaker that the word ‘yapping’ is unparliamentary. I cannot review that ruling,” Kingi said.

He also rejected arguments that Omtatah’s remarks should not attract disciplinary action because the Senate’s quorum had subsequently been questioned.

According to Kingi, the remarks were made when the Senate was properly constituted.

“The words were uttered when the Senate was properly constituted and the proceedings were legal,” he said.

Kingi reminded senators that they were bound by the Standing Orders adopted by the House.

“You may not respect me, but respect the Standing Orders that you yourself took part in formulating and adopting,” he said.

The three-day suspension drew objections from some senators, who urged the Speaker to reconsider the punishment.

Homa Bay Senator Moses Kajwang’ said he was not defending Omtatah’s remarks but questioned whether comments made when the House’s quorum was disputed should result in the exclusion of a senator from the chamber.

Kajwang’ also warned that suspending a senator meant denying the senator’s county representation in the Senate for the duration of the punishment.

Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale similarly defended Omtatah, arguing that “yapping” could simply mean talking excessively and amounted to an opinion rather than an insult.

“Being an opinion, if we are going to start punishing senators for their opinions in this House, it means we are breaching the doctrine of freedom of speech in this House,” Khalwale said.

Khalwale further questioned whether the word itself was unparliamentary or whether its use in reference to the President was what made it objectionable.

Kingi maintained that the matter had already been settled by the earlier ruling and could not be reopened during the sitting.

He told senators who felt the Standing Orders were too restrictive that they had the option of seeking changes to the rules.

“These are not cast in stone. We can review them to conform to the comfort that you dearly hold,” Kingi said.