Ken Lusaka sworn in as Senate Speaker after easy victory
Former Bungoma Governor Ken Lusaka has been sworn in as Speaker of the Senate after a surprising easy victory.
Mr Lusaka easily beat the outgoing speaker Ekwee Ethuro and others to become the second Senate Speaker since the return of the bicameral Parliament through the 2010 Constitution.
Signs that Lusaka was on the way to clinch the seat were apparent when Jubilee Party parliamentary group settled on him instead of Mr Ethuro who had run out of favour with Jubilee honchos.
Lusaka garnered 42 votes in the second round of voting. The first round of voting had failed to yield an outright winner.
FEND FOR HIMSELF
Strangely, Mr Lusaka greatest opponent turned out to be Farah Maalim, who received 25 votes in both rounds of voting.
Mr Maalim benefited from NASA senators votes while Mr Ethuro was left to fend for himself after Jubilee Party senators abandoned him after a directive from President Uhuru Kenyatta.
It was a sweet victory for Lusaka who lost in his attempt to retain his gubernatorial seat in the August 8 poll.
Significantly, the win was a personal victory after NASA senators opposed his bid on the basis of integrity.
Senators James Orengo (Siaya) and Mutula Kilonzo (Makueni) had opposed his candidature arguing that several reports of the last senate had adverse recommendations in the management of finances in Bunguma county.
