Nairobi — Speaker of the National Assembly Moses Wetangula has ruled that Kenya Kwanza is the Majority Party in the House, dealing a major blow to Raila Odinga's Azimio coalition.
In a ruling delivered Thursday evening, Wetangula said the coalition agreements Azimio signed by several parties are null and void because they had been disowned by the same parties in what now stamps authority on President William Ruto's grip on power.
"Therefore, the 14 parties are part of Kenya Kwanza Alliance (KKA) and this in my view would be fair and with that, the members of KKA is 179 and that of Azimio is 157 and that means Kenya Kwanza Alliance is the majority," Wetangula ruled.
Consequently, Wetangula announced that Kikuyu MP Kimani Ichung'wah will be the Majority Leader while Opiyo Wandayi of Ugunja will be the Leader of the Minority.
In his ruling deemed 'Solomonic', Wetangula stated that documents tabled before him and guided by previous jurisprudence on such matters undoubtedly led to the declaration that Kenya Kwanza wielded the majority in the House.
The Speaker upheld that the 14 members of Parliament from MCCP, PAA, UDM and MDG are recognized as Kenya Kwanza Alliance members having signed a post-election coalition agreement with the coalition.
"In my considered opinion, it would be imprudent to treat the 14 members as part of a coalition that they have expressly distanced themselves from and their parties,"he ruled.
He asserted that the pre-election agreement by the four political parties with Azimio La Umoja One Kenya coalition party was done under duress which was a clear violation of the constitution under Article 38.
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"Allegations were also made by a number of members on alleged coercion and duress while entering into agreements with one of the coalitions. This if true is a serious affront to the democratic rights and freedoms that we enjoy as citizens of this country," said Wetangula.
Azimio Secretary General Junet Mohammed was faulted for tabling documents with glaring irregularities on the status of the pre-election agreements between the 26 political parties within the coalition.
Wetangula pointed out that some documents had fewer signatures as compared to those deposited by the Registrar of Political Parties Anne Nderitu to the Clerk of the National Assembly.
"Perusal of the documents presented by Junet Mohamed and the version conveyed by the Registrar of Political Parties reveals glaring inconsistencies," the Speaker said in his ruling.
Ruto took over from Uhuru Kenyatta following a closely contested election in which he defeated Odinga who was Kenyatta's preferred successor.
Kenyatta's Jubilee party and Raila's Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) had up to form a coalition that also included One Kenya of Kalonzo Musyoka (Wiper) and Gideon Moi (KANU). They all invited several parties to form Azimio One Kenya Alliance forming what was thought to be a powerful political machine that was mainly aimed to defeat Ruto.
But their odds went against them and Ruto was declared winner of the presidential election whose outcome was contested in the Supreme Court by Odinga who was dismissed.
