By Martin Masai

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Wiper Showdown in Kitui Amid Machakos Assembly Turmoil

Kitui County Assembly Speaker Kevin Kinengo Katisya has dramatically resigned from the National Executive Council (NEC) of the Wiper Patriotic Front, citing irreconcilable conflict of interest and overt political pressure from the party hierarchy.

His resignation letter — stamped “received” on September 29, 2025 — lays bare a widening rift between the party leadership and its top legislative officers in both Kitui and Machakos.

In the two-page missive addressed to Wiper Secretary-General and copied to party leader Stephen Kalonzo Musyoka, Kinengo says his position as Speaker makes it impossible to maintain the impartiality required of him while sitting in the party’s NEC.

The resignation comes hot on the heals of a Wiper- sponsored impeachment motion tabled a week ago to impeach Speaker Kinengo

He accuses Wiper of “directly interfering” with his constitutional mandate and seeking to limit his authority over County Assembly business.

“My membership in the WDM-NEC appears to create conflict of interest and affect my impartiality… decisions of the WDM-NEC directly interfere with the Standing Orders of the County Assembly of Kitui and other laws,” the Speaker writes, adding that as Speaker he must “preside over the business of the Assembly without favouritism or bias.”

Kinengo’s resignation is not a mere local drama; it reflects deep tremors running through Wiper’s political machine across the counties of Machakos and Kitui.

Observers see the showdown in Kitui and turmoil in Machakos as indicative of how Kalonzo Musyoka would behave as president- meaning his respect for the rule of law is in the same level with President William Ruto.

Kinengo’s letter also claims he has been quietly removed from WDM NEC WhatsApp groups and stripped of some party privileges after refusing to toe the line on how the assembly should vote on key issues.

Echoes of the Anne Kiusya Wars

The move comes at a time when Machakos County Assembly Speaker Anne Kiusya — another embattled Speaker at the heart of a Wiper-dominated assembly — is fighting her own battles against pro-Wavinya MCAs and Wiper operatives.

Kiusya has survived multiple impeachment attempts, all of which have collapsed under the weight of legal obstacles, dwindling numbers on the pro-Wavinya side, unshakeable support of both Maendeleo Chap Chap and UDA MCAs, buttressed by well executed administrative maneuvers by the speaker.

In Machakos, Wiper’s leadership has been accused of using its MCAs to punish Kiusya for insisting on accountability over the county’s finances, including summoning top county officials linked to Governor Wavinya Ndeti, culminating in Kalonzo’s “Aende akiendanga” order.

The party’s inner circle has fought to reinstate Kalonzo Musyoka’s nephew as acting Clerk Kelvin Mutui and regain control of the House Business Committee, while Kiusya’s allies have successfully blocked those moves.

Kinengo’s letter effectively places him in the same camp as Kiusya: presiding Speakers who insist on institutional independence in assemblies dominated by Wiper and its allies.

Wiper’s ‘Control or Else’ Strategy

By vacating his seat on the NEC but retaining his Wiper party membership, Kinengo signals that he will continue to support the party’s broad agenda while refusing to be an instrument of its tactical fights inside the Assembly. This separation is critical because it deprives Wiper of the institutional clout it traditionally exerted over legislative officers in its strongholds.

In the letter, Kinengo warns the party against treating county assemblies as extensions of its political secretariat.

He references the 2010 Constitution, Article 178(1), which provides that the Speaker shall be elected from outside the Assembly to safeguard independence. He further notes that as Speaker he represents “members drawn from diverse political parties” and can not be beholden to any one party’s NEC decisions.

His resignation mirrors the turbulence around Anne Kiusya’s Speakership in Machakos, where Wiper-aligned MCAs have openly declared war on her, only to be frustrated by legal thresholds and the Speaker’s procedural toughness.

A Wider Political Reckoning

Both Kinengo’s resignation and Kiusya’s survival highlight a broader question about Wiper’s grip over county assemblies.

The party’s drive to retain control of clerks, committees, and House business through direct pressure on Speakers is increasingly running into constitutional limits and internal backlash.

Observers say this is not merely about Kinengo and Kiusya as individuals but about whether county assemblies can assert autonomy in the face of political party hierarchies.

In Kitui, Kinengo is essentially daring the party to choose between him and its own NEC.

In Machakos, Kiusya has already pushed back the party’s hand, with multiple impeachment efforts collapsing and the courts signaling that numbers — not intimidation — will decide the fate of Speakers.

The Road Ahead

With Kinengo stepping down from Wiper’s NEC and Kiusya entrenched in Machakos despite relentless party pressure, Wiper now faces a dual credibility crisis in its Lower Eastern backyard.

Each Speaker commands the floor of an assembly that the party had counted as loyal. Each is invoking constitutional neutrality to defy political arm-twisting.

The showdown leaves Kalonzo Musyoka’s party in an awkward bind: push harder and risk public backlash for bullying Speakers, or retreat and risk losing influence over county legislatures at a time when control of budgets, oversight of governors, and the 2027 succession politics are at stake.

For now, Kinengo’s resignation letter stands as the clearest written protest yet against Wiper’s behind-the-scenes pressure on county assemblies — and a fresh signal that Speakers in the counties of Kitui and Machakos are no longer willing to be mere pawns in the party’s high-stakes chess game.

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