KENYA : A three-judge bench has declared the Raila Odinga led Azimio la Umoja coalition as the majority party in the National Assembly.
In their ruling issued on Friday, February 7, Justices John Chigiti, Lawrence Mugambi and Jairus Ngaah overturned a ruling that had been issued by NA Speaker Moses Wetang'ula who ruled that President William Ruto's Kenya Kwanza was the majority side.
The judges noted that the Speaker violated the constitution in his decision.
In particular, the judges stated that the speaker counted some parties which had defected from Azimio in favour of Kenya Kwanza.
The bench also added that there was no evidence to show that there was a post-election agreement between the defected parties and Kenya Kwanza.
“The Speaker cannot fault the Registrar of Political Parties. She could not provide what she did not have. The Speaker ought to have presented the agreements that were allegedly submitted during the debate. Without the post-election coalition agreements, he had no basis for his decision,” the court ruled.
Following the ruling, a section of leaders have pushed for the Speaker to effect changes based on the ruling by the court.
"Speaker Wetangula, be bold, respect the court’s pronouncement and Declare Junet Mohamed as Majority Leader and Millie Odhiambo as the Majority Whip," Migori Senator Eddy Oketch stated.
On the other hand, the three-judge bench dealt Wetang'ula a blow when the judges ruled that he could not be the speaker and the party leader of Ford Kenya at the same time.
“The dual role is unlawful and unconstitutional. Once he became Speaker of the National Assembly, he ceased to be the leader of Ford Kenya," the judges ruled.
