Ruto's party backs Wetang'ula over contested Majority Coalition ruling
Legal and constitutional experts have, however, raised concerns over Wetang’ula’s decision to declare Kenya Kwanza as the majority side despite a High Court ruling that stripped the ruling party of its status.
President William Ruto's United Democratic Alliance Party has come to the defence of the widely criticised Speaker of the National Assembly, Moses Wetang’ula, following his Wednesday ruling that declared Kenya Kwanza as the majority side, despite a High Court pronouncement that stripped the ruling party of its status.
Through the Party's Secretary-General, Hassan Omar, on Thursday, the ruling coalition stated that, for the avoidance of doubt and contrary to falsehoods circulating through various media platforms, the High Court never declared the Azimio Coalition as the Majority Party or Kenya Kwanza as the Minority Party.
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"Compliance with the High Court judgment requires that the determination of the Majority and Minority Leadership be strictly based on official information provided by the Registrar of Political Parties," noted Hassan.
In an effort to put the matter to rest, Hassan went on to list the political parties that make up the ruling coalition. He stated that the publicly available information held by the Registrar of Political Parties confirms the distribution of political party or coalition membership forming the coalition.
"Based on the foregoing High Court decision, the Kenya Kwanza Coalition, with a total of 165 members, is lawfully the Majority Coalition, while the Azimio Coalition, with a total of 154 members, is the Minority Party within the meaning of Article 108 of the Constitution," said Hassan.
This comes as lawmakers from the Western region mounted a defence for Wetang’ula over what they termed sustained and targeted attacks against his persona.
The 15 lawmakers, led by John Waluke and Nabii Nabwera, warned that they would not allow anyone to attempt to downgrade the status of the Speaker.
"The Members of the National Assembly, across the board, have full confidence in the Speaker and abide by and respect his guidance of the National Assembly. We note our disapproval, in the strongest terms, of any narrative that seeks to portray a contrary picture," read a statement signed by the lawmakers.
Legal and constitutional experts have, however, raised concerns over Wetang’ula’s decision to declare Kenya Kwanza as the majority side despite a High Court ruling that stripped the ruling party of its status.
Wetang’ula's move on Wednesday angered Azimio lawmakers, whose protest and walkout could plunge the House into a constitutional crisis and set a bad precedent regarding adherence to law and order, experts argue.
Legal experts who spoke to The Eastleigh Voice disagreed with Wetang’ula’s ruling, urging him to respect court decisions.
Constitutional expert Bobby Mkangi, who served as a commissioner in the nine-member Committee of Experts for Constitutional Review (CoE) that delivered the 2010 Constitution, noted that the courts did not direct Wetang’ula to correct his mistake by conducting a fresh roll call of members and the formations they belong to.
"Unless and until successfully appealed against, the decision of the court should be respected and implemented. It is not the Speaker but the Constitution that determines the pecking order in the National Assembly," advised Mkangi.
In his view, if the National Assembly continues to operate in contravention of the directions of the courts, it will be wasting taxpayers' money, as its actions and resolutions would be null and void.
Azimio MPs, led by Suba South MP Millie Odhiambo, disagreed with Wetang’ula’s decision and stated that they would take further action against his ruling.
"As Azimio, we very respectfully disagree with your communication... As Azimio, we are going to take further action," Odhiambo stated.
Speaker Wetang’ula’s ruling comes amid debate about which party occupies the majority side following the latest High Court ruling to strip Kenya Kwanza of its majority status.
This follows a ruling by Justices John Chigiti, Lawrence Mugambi, and Jairus Ngaah, who noted that Speaker Wetang’ula contradicted the Registrar of Political Parties, whose documents showed that Azimio had majority status in 2022 before 14 MPs defected to the ruling party.
Following the court ruling, Azimio MPs occupied the majority side during the resumption of parliamentary sittings on Tuesday and called upon Speaker Wetang’ula to honour the court ruling.
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