Nearly five Jubilee lawmakers led by Kimilili MP Didmus Barasa could be on the verge of joining the Raila Odinga-led Nasa camp, should President Uhuru Kenyatta fail to retain Water and Irrigation CS Eugene Wamalwa.

The outspoken lawmaker hinted at leading a number of Jubilee MPs from Bungoma and Trans Nzoia Counties to ditch the ruling  party for the Opposition, in protest over what he termed as ‘being shortchanged’.

Erode gains

“CS Wamalwa was the face of Jubilee in Bungoma and Trans-Nzoia Counties.  Kicking him out has eroded the gains Jubilee had made in the region.  We shall have no business remaining in Jubilee after the ouster of our team leader Wamalwa,” Mr Barasa said as quoted by the .

He added: “It is the CS post that will help Bungoma and Trans-Nzoia residents. During the first term of President Kenyatta, we had two CS’s posts. Apart from Wamalwa, we now demand for two more posts, since we mobilized our supporters to overwhelmingly vote for Jubilee.”

Since Friday’s announcement by President Uhuru Kenyatta to only retain six out of the 18 current cabinet secretaries, there has been intensified lobbying from nearly all communities, all clamouring for inclusion in the goverment.

Women inclusion

A caucus of women leaders from Western region earlier demanded for not less than eight slots as President Uhuru Kenyatta unveils his Cabinet.

Catherine Omanyo, the secretary general of the Women Candidates’ Network Kenya, termed ludicrous the fact Uhuru failed to name women in his first list.

She urged Uhuru to abide by the Constitution and uphold the two-thirds gender rule.

Last week, Uhuru retained six CSs to serve in his second term and none of them was a woman.

The six are Fred Matiang’i (Education) Henry Rotich (Treasury) and Najib Balala (Tourism). Others included James Macharia (Transport), Joe Mucheru (ICT) and Charles Keter (Energy).

Omanyo had vied for a parliamentary seat on the ANC ticket in last year’s General Election, but lost to Geoffrey Odanga in Matayos constituency, Busia county.

She took issue with Uhuru for failing to recognise Ababu Namwamba and former Funyula MP Paul Otuoma, whom she said campaigned vigorously for Jubilee.

Second batch of CSs

Meanwhile, President Kenyatta is set to announce his second batch of the cabinet secretaries who will serve in his second term. It is not clear who among the 13, who were deemed to have been sacked, would be treated, after an outcry on the need to retain seemingly loyal cabinet secretaries like Amb Amina Mohammed and Eugene Wamalwa.