After surviving the Jubilee purge, Garissa Township MP Aden Duale has accused his Kieni counterpart Kanini Kega of plotting his removal as National Assembly Majority Leader.

According to Duale, Kega was keen on replacing him as the Majority Leader and that he used “uncouth” means such as extortion, threats and blackmail.

“He is notoriously known for being the king of extortion who thrives in threats and blackmail. He has perfected the art of extortion so well that all he does is to purport to collect signatures only for him thereafter to solicit for favors from myself and my friends as bait for withdrawal of signatures,” said Duale.

“The National Assembly Standing Order 19 is clear on the process for removal of a Majority Leader which is by a majority of votes of all Members of the Majority Party in a Parliamentary Group chaired by the Party Leader and the decision thereafter is communicated by the Majority Whip to the Speaker. There is no place for collection of signatures.”

In a statement Wednesday, Duale further accused Kanini Kega of driving the House Committee on Trade, Industry and Cooperatives – which he serves as Chairperson – to its deathbed using similar “uncouth” antics.

“What Kanini Kega is however doing is to lie to his colleagues through unknown procedures that he can still have a say in the removal process when he is just playing his usual extortion game,” said Duale.

He added: “Hon. Kanini Kega, please note that being a Leader of Majority is not as easy as ABCD. It takes zeal, hard work, servant leadership, expertise, professionalism, experience and having the people of Kenya in your heart.”

“Question is if you killed the Committee on Trade which you chair through incompetence can you handle the position of the Leader of Majority Party?”

This comes after Kanini Kega claimed that he had collected 117 signatures in his bid to oust Duale from the Majority of Leader post barely 24 hours after he was endorsed to continue serving in that capacity during the Jubilee Parliamentary Group meeting held on Tuesday.