A war of words has erupted between Senate Majority Leader Kipchumba Murkomen and US-based law lecturer Makau Mutua after the latter attacked allies of Deputy President William Ruto.

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Murkomen kicked off the violent exchange after he criticised Mutua for tagging former Chief Justice Willy Mutunga in a tweet he had attacked Malindi MP Aisha Jumwa and former Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale.

In the post that elicited mixed reactions, Mutua had termed Jumwa and Khalwale as 'flip-floppers' after they dumped former Prime Minister Raila Odinga for Ruto, and predicted their fall in 2022 elections.

"MP Jumwa isn't the first flip-flopping politician. Many, like Boni Khalwale, beat her to the punch. But unlike Amalinze the Cat -- Okonkwo's avatar -- none will land on their feet in 2022. Flip-floppers will land hard on their backs," he tweeted, tagging Senior Counsel Ahmednasir Abdullahi, TV host Jeff Koinange and ex-CJ Mutunga.

Murkomen took issue with Mutunga's tagging and mocked the Prof's trademark 'crystal balls' phrase, which he equated to witchcraft (uganga).

"I wonder why one of our best jurists and great CJ Mutunga was tagged. How is he a party to Makau Mutua‘s ever-failing crystal balls (uganga)" he tweeted.

But in a swift response, the law scholar claimed the Elgeyo Marakwet has 'dictatorial genes' and slammed him for an attempt to 'censor' free speech. 

"Listen to yourself Murkomen! Your dictatorial genes are so ingrained that you want to censor who I tag on Twitter.  Does free speech mean a damn thing to you?  Are you simply ill-educated or ill-mannered?  Shame on you Counselor," Mutua posted on Thursday.