Kenya Kwanza has suffered a major setback after a three judge bench ruled that it is not the majority party in parliament as had been declared by Speaker Moses Wetangula.
In a landmark ruling, the bench ruled that the Speaker had no justifiable basis for the reassignments and quashed the desicion dates 6th October 2022 that declared Kenya Kwanza as the majority party inthe house.
Justices Jairus Ngaa, Lawrence Mugambi and John Chigiti and ruled that Wetangula violated the Constitution in making the controversial determination.
Wetangula made the ruling on October 6, 2022, when 14 members from various parties were assigned to Kenya Kwanza, tipping the scales in favor of the coalition and enabling it to claim majority status.
Speaker Wetangula, decreed that Kenya Kwanza has 179 members in the House against Azimio la Umoja One Kenya coalition party’s 157.
However, the court noted 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.
“The speaker can’t fault the registrar of political parties.she couldn’t provide what she did not have…The speaker ought to have exhibited the agreement which were alleged to have been presented during the debate without the post election coalition agreements he had not basis to this regard” the bench held.
They further faulted Wetangula for making that decision saying he should have been impartial and followed the law considering that he is a key figure in maintaining public trust in the parliamentary process.
“By assigning Kenya Kwanza the 14 members of the parties without any reason and declaring Kenya Kwanza as the majority leader, it follows that the Speaker violated the Constitution,” court ruled.
The judges further warned that public confidence in Parliament depends heavily on the Speaker’s actions, adding that public trust can be gained or easily eroded if constitutional violations occur.
Further the court said that Being the leader of Ford Kenya ,Moses Wetangula undermines his role as a speaker of National Assembly.
“The duo role is unlawful and unconstitutional,”court noted
Court further noted that once he became the Speaker of National Assembly he seized to be leader of Ford Kenya
