By Anchor Writer
Judas Out, Kavyu In: Chap Chap Cleans House as Machakos Assembly Resumes
When the Machakos County Assembly resumed its sittings today, it did so, not with quiet deliberation but with the unmistakable clang of political housekeeping.
On the surface, it was a routine session after weeks of suspended activity. In reality, it turned into a full-blown cleansing of the House Minority leadership — a political spin cycle complete with rinse, wring, and replacement.
The headline change came with the ousting of Judas Ndawa as Minority Leader, a position he had clung to amid growing dissent and visible fatigue from his own party, Maendeleo Chap Chap.
In his place is Francis Kavyu, until now, the Deputy Minority Leader, while Francis Ngunga has been elevated to fill the deputy’s post.
The changes were formally communicated by Speaker Anne Kiusya, who, it must be noted, owes her political survival to the very party effecting the reshuffle.
With its 16 MCAs, Chap Chap has been pivotal in keeping Kiusya safe from impeachment attempts by the Wavinya Ndeti/ Kalonzo Musyoka-aligned wing of the Wiper Party.
In recent weeks, these Chap Chap members have joined forces with a few politically weathered Wiper allies to frustrate repeated efforts by the Wavinya brigade to oust the Speaker.
Ndawa’s removal was hardly a surprise. His tenure as Minority Leader had become increasingly untenable, marred by controversy, internal friction, and mounting pressure from both his party and Assembly colleagues.
His most glaring misstep came when he appeared before the Senate to defend Governor Wavinya Ndeti in a performance critics described as embarrassing. For a man once considered a sharp political operator, Ndawa’s speech — rambling, off-message, and theatrically clumsy — only deepened the perception that he had become a liability rather than a leader.
Behind the scenes, the Chap Chap Party had long given up on him. A letter seeking his removal had been lodged with the Speaker’s office well before March 8 — the day violent confrontations broke out on the Assembly floor, turning the chamber into a theatre of chaos. Still, Majority Leader Nzioka and his allies fought tooth and nail to keep Ndawa in place, determined, it seemed, to preserve their own power calculus no matter the cost to the Assembly’s stability.
This week’s reshuffle signals the end of that impasse. With Kavyu now officially at the helm, the party has clearly sought to reassert its authority, install a leadership team it can rely on, and draw a line under what has been a tumultuous period in the Assembly’s minority ranks.
The choice of Kavyu — steady, loyal, and relatively low-key — suggests a desire to pivot away from high drama and toward a more pragmatic approach to legislative politics.
The resumption of sittings, which had been suspended amid unrest, now appears to have served as a soft reboot for the Assembly.
With violence witnessed halfway through the communication, tensions are open and no longer simmering beneath the surface.
Today’s events felt less like a routine legislative session and more like a carefully choreographed reset.
Political laundering, if you will — complete with the public airing of old linen and the quiet folding away of figures deemed too stained to keep.
What remains to be seen is whether this fresh coat of leadership will hold. The Speaker, while protected for now by her Chap Chap base, remains a prime target for Wiper loyalists.
The coalition that has shielded her is no longer fragile. Emboldened by wiper mistakes that feed on corruption networks, today, Kiusya clawed like a wounded lion.
She appeared to set her eyes simultaneously on Kalonzo and Wavinya to see if they may repeat the ‘Aende akiendanga’ altimatum. And while the Assembly may appear calm on the surface, the undercurrents are as volatile as ever.
For now, though, Chap Chap can claim a small but significant victory. The Minority leadership has been recast, the Speaker remains in place, and the Assembly lives to sit another day — hopefully with fewer theatrics and a bit more decorum. Whether Judas Ndawa fades quietly into the backbenches or stages one last act remains anyone’s guess.
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