House of impunity: Chaos as MPs shout over Majority and Minority status

The first day for MPs back from recess yesterday was marked by chaos and impunity as lawmakers tussled over the high court ruling that annulled an earlier verdict declaring the ruling Kenya Kwanza coalition as the majority. 

Some MPs demanded to have National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula vacate his office while others sought to interpret the ruling.

The issue of which alliance between Kenya Kwanza and Azimio Coalition would henceforth be recognized as the majority or minority took centre stage even as a section of the Azimio leaders called for Wetangula’s resignation.

The ruling made by the courts last week declared as unconstitutional Wetangula’s declaration on October 6 2022 that President William Ruto-led Kenya Kwanza Alliance was the Majority Party in the National Assembly.

A three-judge bench comprising Justices John Chigiti, Lawrence Mugambi and Jairus Ngaah found that the Speaker violated the Constitution by making the determination without sufficient legal basis.

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The reality of the weight of the ruling sank in yesterday, setting off a scramble for the House majority seat.

At exactly 3.20pm, Suba North MP Millie Odhiambo rose to demand for the respect of the court ruling by the House. While at it, she observed that Wetangula’s dual role as a leader of a political party and an arbiter at the House amounted to a conflict of interest.

“I also stand under Standing Order 90. Mr Speaker, if you look at the judgment of that court, the courts actually in fact infer that because of the position you hold as Speaker and also as leader of your party, it is not possible for you to be fair. You are going to be conflicted when you are conducting the matters of this House,” said Odhiambo.

What had preceded earlier when the House convened was a symbolic crossover of the Parliamentary isle diving the majority and minority sides by the Azimio affiliated MPs. Minority leader Junet Mohammed, Rarieda MP Otiende Amollo, Millie Odhiambo and others sat squarely on the majority side of the House insisting that the Speaker acknowledges the new reality premised on the court ruling.

And when Junet took the microphone, he emphasized that he wished to be recognized as the majority leader until the Court of Appeal ruled otherwise on the matter. 

“When we arrived here (in Parliament) after the elections, we arrived here knowing we are the majority and we had the numbers. But midway we ended up losing numbers through your ruling Mr Speaker and that is why we went to court. We expected this decision much earlier but it has come now. As of this afternoon, I have switched seats and taken over the role of Majority leader. I am capable, I have the qualifications, and I have the numbers in the House to lead,” Junet said.

But in a swift rejoinder, Wetangula asserted that no court or external authority could dictate how parliamentary business would be conducted.

“As Speaker, I do not debate, I do not vote. I hold a position of honour to preside over your proceedings. Anyone who wants to say anything about this judgment, I will give you an opportunity, and it’s finally going to be yours truly to give you a ruling on the matter,” he said.

Majority leader Kimani Ichung’wa ruled out any expected changes, stating:

“The only ruling out of the 34 that was given by the court was to annul your ruling of October 2022 and the import of that annulment when they said that they found it to be unconstitutional, null and void, the import of that is we go back to the status quo as at Aug 9, 2022.”

Acknowledging the existence of pre and post-election pacts that exist between the Kenya Kwanza and other splinter parties, Ichung’wa urged the Speaker to give direction on the way forward.

“There is no court, no Act of Parliament including the Political Parties Act that was passed in this House that can force the eight members of UDM to associate with Azimio. That cannot happen and that is why, to a large extent, I disagree with the court because those members enjoy certain inalienable rights to enjoy their rights of association, to associate with the political coalition they desire.”

Otiende faulted the Speaker for not effecting the leadership changes.

“The consequences (of the ruling) are two, the Leader of Minority becomes the Leader of Majority by operation of law, even if you do nothing else, ” he said.

“The only way we can start debating whether this decision quashes and changes the position of Majority and Minority is if you want to practice impunity. Mr Speaker, I agree with your observations, it is not in this forum to question the reasoning in the judgment. That must be questioned elsewhere, “he added.

Sabina Chege, a Jubilee Party nominated MP, opposed the court ruling and sought to know who were going to be the chairs to the committees based on the Majority or the Minority.

“After two years, many things have changed. There are post and pre-election coalition agreements. If we take the case of Maendeleo Chap Chap, they had left the coalition that they had signed before and so, as we make the decision, are they part of Azimio?” she posed.

“And the other question is, does Azimio party still exist? As the Jubilee Party, in June 2023, we wrote a letter here as members of the Jubilee Party and requested to be an independent political party. So Mr Speaker, as we make this decision, are we going to be counted in Azimio or are we going to be counted as an independent party?” Chege wondered.

Bumula MP Jack Wamboka held that Kenya Kwanza should cede ground for Azimio.

“Elections were held and results came out. At the time of the elections, Azimio was the majority. If that has changed bring it here and we shall debate it,” Wamboka said.

Notably, at the constitution of the 13th Parliament, documents by the Registrar of Political Parties indicated that Azimio had 171 members against Kenya Kwanza’s 165.

“It is, however, notable that a total of 14 Members are drawn from four parties which are United Democratic Movement (UDM), Pamoja African Alliance (PAA), Maendeleo Chap Chap (MCC) and Movement for Democratic Growth (MDG) who, according to a letter from the Registrar, have filed constitutional petitions and objections against their membership in Azimio. 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,” the Speaker said during the determination of who was the majority at the time.

He termed it imprudent to treat 14 members elected to the House under UDM, PAA, MCC and MDG as part of a coalition they expressly distanced both themselves and their parties from.

He communicated that the 14 members wrote to him distancing themselves and their parties from Azimio coalition and called upon him to recognise their post-election coalition agreement with Kenya Kwanza with respect to the business of the House.

“With the 14 members, the membership of the Kenya Kwanza coalition stands at 179 while the membership of the Azimio la Umoja-One Kenya coalition stands at 157 members. This, by implication, indicates that the Kenya Kwanza coalition is the Majority Party and the Azimio la Umoja-One Kenya coalition is the Minority Party in this House,” read the October 6, 2022 ruling.