MURKOMEN APOLOGISES TO ORENGO OVER SENATE OUTBURSTS BUT ASKS HIM TO RESPECT YOUNG LAWYERS.
Elgeyo Marakwet senator and immidiate former Jubilee majority leader Hon Kipchumba Murkomen has apologised to his Siaya counterpart Sen Orengo.
On Friday, Sen Murkomen had taken a swipe at his counterpart during a heated debate as Sen Kindiki was being removed.
“Senator Orengo has over and over again doubted my practice and knowledge of the law and my academic qualifications,” Murkomen said .
“We went to the same University, although the difference is 26 years. I have two Masters Degrees, and he has none. I have taught at University, and he has not,” Murkomen went on.
As the heat cooled, on Saturday Murkomen asked Orengo to forgive him saying that he had immense respect for him and his achievements as a distiguished lawyer.
“My respect for Sen. James Orengo as a lawyer, a politician and a legislator is well documented within and outside Parliament.
I have spared little opportunity to pay him the tribute he so richly deserves, and always scrupulously refer to his experience, knowledge and seniority,” Murkomen said.
“As a young African, my respect for Orengo is a duty that I cannot escape, and which I gladly embrace because Sen. Orengo is three decades my senior, and has filled that time with valiant achievements,” he added.
Murkomen has however urged Orengo not to use his vast experience to look down upon young and upcoming lawyers.
“In the heated debate in the Chamber as well as discourse on the political arena, it has become customary for my learned senior colleague to cite his long and successful litigation experience to advance his arguments while at the same time implying that younger colleagues are not qualified or competent to challenge his positions,” Murkomen said.
“The persistence of this tactic suggests that Sen. Orengo not only puts a tremendous premium on his seniority in the legal profession but also seeks to privilege it at the expense of all competing positions.
It would, therefore, be unjust to institutionalize a culture that disenfranchises young people and privileges age as the only material professional criterion,” Murkomen added.
He further said that he hopes that despite the heated debate with Orengo, their friendship will remain.
“This is the spirit in which I took up my intervention, and I hope that this debate will not in any way strain my friendship with Hon. Sen. Orengo,” Hon Murkomen wrote on his twitter handle. This debate had split netizens into two some pro Orengo while others pro Murkomen
