Speaker Wetangula declares Kenya Kwanza the majority in Parliament

National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula has declared that the President William Ruto-led Kenya Kwanza constitutes the majority in the House.

Speaker Wetangula, in a ruling delivered on Thursday afternoon following a stand-off, decreed that Kenya Kwanza has 179 members in the House against Azimio la Umoja One Kenya coalition party’s 157.

The Speaker stated that according to documents from the Registrar of Political Parties, Azimio coalition party comprised of 26 political parties while Kenya Kwanza had 15, as at April 21, 2022.

Going by this, he noted, Azimio then had 171 Members of Parliament while Kenya Kwanza had 165.

However, Wetangula stated that several Azimio members had since formally written to his office to denounce their association with the Raila Odinga-led political outfit.

These members are 14 MPs drawn from 4 parties, namely United Democratic Movement (UDM), Movement for Democracy and Growth (MDG), Maendeleo Chap Chap (MCC), Pamoja African Alliance (PAA).

He said the 14 have filed Constitutional petitions and objections against their membership in Azimio, seeking to instead be enjoined with Kenya Kwanza.

“Allegations were made by a number of members on alleged coercion and duress while entering into agreements with one of the coalitions. This, if true, is a serious affront to the democratic rights and freedoms that we enjoy in this country,” said Wetangula.

“This implies that the letter from the Registrar may not be used to compute the membership of the majority and minority parties by dint of the admission contained in it on the existing Constitutional petitions and objections.”

He added: “With the 14 members, the membership of the Kenya Kwanza coalition stands at 179 members, while the membership of the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya coalition party stands at 157. This, by implication, indicates that the Kenya Kwanza coalition I the majority party, and the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya coalition party is the minority party in this House.”

Further, Speaker Wetangula fingered Azimio for what he termed as contesting for the National Assembly’s majority status through its “second skin.”

He cited that no member was elected or nominated to Parliament on an Azimio ticket, but rather those of the various constituent parties that make up the coalition party.

However, by fielding a presidential ticket under the Azimio banner, Wetangula said it is unclear whether the Odinga-led outfit is a political party or a coalition of political parties.

“In the last General Election, it is evident that Azimio la Umoja One Kenya elected to behave as several political parties in certain categories of elections, and as one political party with regard to the election of the president. It is without doubt that if it were to be considered as a political party, Azimio la Umoja One Kenya coalition party has no elected member in this House today, as no member was elected under its banner,” he said.

“Further, it is notable that with respect to the members nominated to this House, the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya coalition party elected to nominate members under the names of its constituent parties. The Azimio la Umoja One Kenya coalition party seems to have elected to enter this House in both elective and nominative positions through its individual constituent parties. What is clear from the Constitution is that the leader of the majority party must lead either a party or a coalition of parties in the National Assembly, and not both.”

The Speaker also threw out Azimio’s argument that members could only exit the coalition party three months after the General Election, saying it is not compliant with the Political Parties Act.

He instead posited that members can join and leave a coalition at will, with the only requirement being a written notice to the Registrar of Political Parties.

“The Political Parties Act does not engage in the substantive limitations of rights, but only deals with procedural exercise of those rights, in terms of timeline. Indeed, architecture of the Act is that timelines are only prescribed with respect to activities that fall before the election date, which seem to be related to the management of the election calendar,” stated Wetangula.

“There are no timelines prescribed for activities after the election date. From the provisions of the Act, it appears that a person is at liberty to join and leave political parties as long as they notify the Registrar of their actions. I’m not sure whether the provision of a coalition agreement regulating the period within which a member may exit a coalition would pass the test of being compliant with the Political Parties Act, in the first instance, or the Constitution, in the second instance.”