Court Declares Azimio Coalition The Majority in Parliament

A three-judge bench on Friday, February 7, declared Azimio Coalition the righful majority party in parliament, quashing Speaker Moses Wetangula’s decision that declared Kenya Kwanza as the majority party in Parliament.

Judges John Chigiti, Lawrence Mugambi, and Jairus Ngaah of the High Court found that Wetangula violated the Constitution in making his determination on parliamentary leadership, on October 6, 2022. On that day, Wetangula declared that Kenya Kwanza had 179 MPs against Azimio’s 157

According to ruling, Wetangula wrongly assigned 14 members from various parties to Kenya Kwanza, to give Kenya Kwanza a majority status in the House. The judges have ruled that he had no legal basis for the reassignments

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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 In regards, 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 announcement- a decision that has heavily been criticized by the judges 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, adding that he lost his role as Ford Kenya’s part leader upon his election as Speaker.

Moreover, the court has declined to suspend its ruling even though the state is allowed to file a formal application for any stay of the decision.