The situation that National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang’ula found himself in when he was required to guide the country on the majority side in the House is not unique in the history of Parliament.
For instance, on April 28, 2009, then Speaker Kenneth Marende ruled on who should be the leader of government business in Parliament and therefore the chairperson of the House Business Committee (HBC) in the Grand Coalition Government.
The invitation for Speaker Marende’s guidance was triggered on April 23, 2009 by then Kisumu Town West MP Olago Aluoch.
This was after then President Mwai Kibaki of PNU and then Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s ODM each presented a candidate staking their claim to the powerful position guided by the politics of hierarchy in the House.
PNU had a post-election coalition agreement with Wiper party that had settled on then Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka with ODM settling on its party leader and Prime Minister Raila Odinga as the show of might threatened the business of the House.
Never mind that the country was healing from the tragic events of the 2007 post-election violence that left many killed, injured, hurdled into camps and property destroyed.
With the two sides pulling aside, it meant that the House could not transact business without the HBC, which sets the agenda for the House, being in place and with leadership.
While it was the expectation of many that Speaker Marende would settle on one of the two nominees, this was not the case.
“With much regret and much reluctance, I rule that the Speaker of the National Assembly, shall serve as the chairperson of the committee until such time as the Speaker shall receive, the name of one member consensually nominated by the government for the position of chairperson of the House Business Committee,” Mr Marende ruled.
Then Eldoret North MP and Agriculture Minister William Ruto, now president, supported Mr Marende’s ruling.
“I join my colleagues in congratulating you for the position you have taken this afternoon in providing the way forward for this House which has been engrossed in a stalemate for the last one week,” Mr Ruto said then.
This even as he told off then Juja MP George Thuo for portraying the House as opposition and government.
“He has talked about the two sides of the House twice. We are talking about one government! There are no two sides of the House. There is no opposition and the government sides. Therefore, he should correct that in the spirit of your ruling,” Mr Ruto said then.
Then South Mugirango MP Omingo Magara and Assistant Minister for Trade was full of praise for the ruling.
“Someone once said that they were looking for a wise man who once saved the life of a child. I want to remind you today, Mr Speaker Sir, that the person who was being quoted then was Solomon and I want to tell you that you have been our Solomon today for this country,” said Mr Magara.
Prof Anyang’ Nyong’o, then Kisumu Rural MP and Minister for Medical Services said Marende’s ruling was important for nation building.
“Social changes always occur as a result of contradictions. Some contradictions are minor, while others are major. Major contradictions bring revolutions when the change occurs. Minor contradictions bring changes that we see today, and better understanding,” Prof Nyong’o said then.
“So the Speaker has today clarified the contradictions in the National Accord and Reconciliation Act and the constitution. Members of Parliament are wiser than they were before. Therefore, complaining or regretting that we have wasted a week, is actually incorrect. We have learnt something, and moved forward. We are wiser today,” Prof Nyong’o added.
Then Kitui Central MP and Minister for Water and Irrigation Charity Ngilu noted that “the whole country was really tense and waiting for the decision that you were going to make.”
“You have ruled correctly so that the two Principles of this Grand Coalition Government can sit down and agree and provide leadership. What is happening in this country at the moment is that, as leaders, we do not want to consult each other or listen to each other,” she said.
According to Mr Marende, he made the decision after the two principals failed to agree on one name.
“My initiative to seek audience with the President and the Prime Minister with a view to reaching a consensual and amicable settlement to the matter has not, so far, met with success.”
Kibaki and Mr Odinga were bitter rivals in the 2007 presidential election that led to thousands killed, injured, displaced and property destroyed in the ensuing post-election violence.
The two would later be joined together in the grand coalition government through the National Accord and Reconciliation Act that was entrenched in the constitution following days of negotiations in 2008 led by former UN Secretary-General the late Koffi Annan.
The accord designated the two as principals in the grand coalition while emphasising on real power sharing between them.
Within days of Mr Marende’s ruling, Mr Kibaki and Mr Odinga met and agreed on the name- Kalonzo Musyoka through a letter to the Speaker, which was adopted by the House without drama.
Makueni County Governor Mutula Kilonzo Jnr, a lawyer, says that the ruling by Speaker Wetang’ula is not too uncommon and cannot be compared to Mr Marende’s.
“The pecking order dispute between Mr Musyoka and Mr Odinga was directed at the then Minister in charge- the late Mutula Kilonzo, who responded to the question on the hierarchy and responsibility leading to the direction given by the Speaker Marende then,” says Mr Kilonzo Jnr.
The Makueni County Governor notes that the hierarchy dispute was because of a lacuna that was not expected in section 15 of the repealed constitution.
While Mr Marende received accolades for delivering a ‘Solomonic’ ruling that amicably settled the bitter contestation between then President Mwai Kibaki’s PNU and Raila Odinga’s ODM, Speaker Wetang’ula two rulings on who is the majority in the House have been at best underwhelming.
On October 6, 2022, fresh from a divisive general election that was followed by mass protests over the outcome of the August 9, 2022 presidential election, Speaker Wetang’ula aggravated the volatile situation by ruling President William Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza alliance as the majority side in the House.
What followed the Speaker’s ruling were claims of bias from senior political figures inside and outside parliament.
What made the accusations look merited was the fact that the Speaker had literally moved some parties that had signed a pre-election coalition agreement with Mr Raila Odinga’s Azimio coalition to President Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza alliance ostensibly to create a majority in the House for them.
Never mind that the coalition agreement the parties had signed to create the Azimio coalition bound the affiliate parties for at least six months.
This meant that a coalition member could only exit after at least six months upon satisfying all the process of exit and filing returns with the Office of the Registrar of Political Parties (ORPP).
This was not only complied with as the parties that were pronounced to have exited Azimio as they had not even joined Kenya Kwanza.
This was revealed by Speaker Wetang’ula as per the records at ORPP, which he had previously trashed, in his ruling that overturned the High Court judgment that annulled his October 6, 2022 communication that installed Kenya Kwanza the majority side in the House.
The parties that had left Azimio were the People’s Liberation Party, formerly the National Rainbow Coalition-Kenya of Martha Karua on December 6, 2024, Maendeleo Chap Chap Party on January 25, 2024 and Devolution Empowerment Party on April 11, 2023.
There was also the United Democratic Movement that exited Azimio on November 23, 2023 and PAA on February 27, 2023.
The Speaker went on to state that MDG had initiated a process of exiting the Azimio but was yet to finalise it.
The Speaker further told the House that on February 11, 2025, PAA, MCCP, UDM and the National Ordinary People Empowerment Union (NOPEU) had not registered with any coalition.
“The letter from the Registrar of Political Parties did also convey that five parties had exited the Azimio coalition but are not members of any registered coalition or coalition political party,” Speaker Wetang’ula told the House.
This is despite Speaker Wetang’ula having ruled on October 6, 2022 in a communication that was vitiated by the court that the four parties are members of Kenya Kwanza.
“The contradiction is the Speaker’s ruling that assigned the four parties to Kenya Kwanza. Today he has disowned this. This is not a man to trust,” said the Suna East MP.
