The High Court has ruled as unconstitutional National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang’ula’s declaration of President William Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza Alliance as 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.
While ruling on a petition filed by 12 rights activists described as “citizens of Kenya and registered voters”, the court noted that there was no evidence to support claims that five political parties had formally left Raila Odinga-led Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition and joined Kenya Kwanza Alliance by signing the necessary post-election agreements.
The parties are Movement for Democracy and Growth (MDG) of Ugenya MP David Ochieng, Mandera Senator Ali Roba’s United Democratic Movement (UDM), Senate Speaker Amason Kingi’s Pamoja African Alliance (PAA), Chama Cha Mashinani (CCM) of former Bomet governor Isaac Ruto, and Maendeleo Chap Chap, formerly led by Labour Cabinet Secretary Alfred Mutua.
"By assigning the 14 MPs from MDG, UDM, PAA, CCM, and MCCP to Kenya Kwanza Alliance without evidence of post-election agreements or justification and declaring Kenya Kwanza Alliance as Majority, the Speaker acted arbitrarily and violated Article 101 of the Constitution," the ruling stated.
The court quashed Speaker Wetang’ula’s ruling dated October 6, 2022 that declared Kenya Kwanza Alliance the Majority Party and Azimio the Minority. The judges said the ruling is null and void.
“It is worth noting that the Speaker upon being sued in this petition swore and filed an affidavit in court and did not allude to post-election agreements between Kenya Kwanza Alliance and the five political parties. No evidence of a post-election agreement was adduced. It has not been demonstrated that any of the parties alleged to have left Azimio made steps to comply with the requirements of Section 109 of Political Parties Act,” said the court.
The court further held that Speaker Wetang’ula’s declaration lacked both legal and factual justification. It held that he violated the Constitution by making the declaration.
Additionally, the ruling addressed the Speaker’s role in the Ford Kenya party, finding it unlawful for Wetang’ula to simultaneously hold a leadership position in the party while serving as Speaker of the National Assembly.
The court emphasized that as a public officer, the Speaker is expected to maintain neutrality and impartiality, thereby barring him from being a leader of any political party.
“Holding a position in Ford Kenya Party undermines the neutrality role in the National Assembly Speaker position. It violates the Constitution and is unlawful. However, this does not invalidate the election of the speaker,” said the court.
The dispute on Parliamentary leadership arose when on October 4, 2022, Mr Wetangula informed the National Assembly that he had received two letters respectively from the Azimio coalition and Kenya Kwanza coalition, both claiming to be the majority party and in that regard appointing their leaders in the National Assembly.
In their petition, the political activists pleaded that according to the published election results, 171 members of the National Assembly were elected on the tickets of political parties that formed the Azimio coalition while 165 members of the National Assembly were elected on Kenya Kwanza coalition parties’ tickets.
It followed that, going by these results, the Azimio Coalition became the majority party in the National Assembly after the August 9, 2022 General Elections.
Through lawyer Kibe Mungai, the petitioners were further aggrieved that although Mr Wetangula was elected the Speaker of the National Assembly, he held and still holds the position of the leader of Ford-Kenya party; that he is a member of the Kenya Kwanza Forum of Party leaders; and, that he is an ex officio member of the coalition parliamentary group of Kenya Kwanza.
According to the petitioners, Mr Wetangula is conflicted to the extent that, going by his political inclination, he would be biased towards driving the Kenya Kwanza coalition political agenda in discharge of his functions as the Speaker of the National Assembly.
In its final verdict, the court quashed Speaker Wetang’ula’s ruling that had designated Kenya Kwanza Alliance as the Majority Party and Azimio la Umoja as the Minority.
The court declared the decision null and void, effectively overturning the Speaker’s declaration.
