A three-judge bench on Friday quashed Speaker Moses Wetangula’s decision that declared Kenya Kwanza as the majority party in Parliament.
The court has ruled that Azimio la Umoja is the rightful majority party.
Judges John Chigiti, Lawrence Mugambi, and Jairus Ngaah have found that Wetangula violated the Constitution in making his determination on parliamentary leadership.
The ruling overturns his decision made on October 6, 2022.
The court states that Wetangula wrongly assigned 14 members from various parties to Kenya Kwanza.
This move gave Kenya Kwanza a majority status in the House. The judges have ruled that he had no legal basis for the reassignments.
Wetangula declared that Kenya Kwanza had 179 MPs against Azimio’s 157. However, documents from the Registrar of Political Parties show that Azimio comprised 26 political parties while Kenya Kwanza had 15 as of April 21, 2022.
The court has ruled that the Speaker cannot fault the Registrar of Political Parties. The judges have stated that the Speaker failed to present any post-election coalition agreements to justify his decision.
The judges have criticized Wetangula for violating the Constitution. They have emphasized that a Speaker must act with impartiality and uphold public trust.
The court has ruled that Wetangula’s position as Ford Kenya party leader conflicts with his role as Speaker.
The judges have stated that he ceased to be Ford Kenya’s leader upon his election as Speaker.
The court has declined to suspend its ruling. The state must file a formal application for any stay of the decision.
The case was filed by Ken Njagi, advocate Lempaa Suyinka, and ten others. Advocate Kibe Mungai represented the petitioners.
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