Speaker Wetangula names Kenya Kwanza as the Majority Coalition

Post by : Ann Njambuya

After the August General election. Political parties allied to the Azimio party ditched the coalition in favour of the Kenya Kwanza alliance. This move caused jitters in the azimio Coalition. Some of the parties that left the coalition were the UDM party,Muungano party and the MDG party.

Pamoja African Alliance and Maendeleo Chap Chap had left the azimio coalition before the August general elections. The party leaders of PAA and MCC had earlier indicated that they were treated unequally by top azimio parties. This earlier defection didn’t cause a problem at the time as the parties were considered inferior.

However, after the general election, the national assembly was shared almost equally between the two coalitions. No coalition had the appropriate number at the time. This brought out this issue of the majority party in the assembly. The decision was therefore left to the speaker to decide. The national assembly Speaker Hon. Wetangula directed that he would decide on the matter on 6th October 2022.

The Speaker’s Ruling

During his ruling the Speaker declared Kenya Kwanza as the majority party in the parliament. He indicated that:“Allegations were 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 in this country,”

“With the 14 members, the membership of the Kenya Kwanza coalition stands at 179 members, while the membership of the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya coalition party stands at 157. This, by implication, indicates that the Kenya Kwanza coalition I the majority party, and the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya coalition party is the minority party in this House.”Wetangula added.

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Photo//Kenya Kwanza Principals Ford Kenya party leader and National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula and ANC Party Leader and Prime Cabinet Secretary Nominee Musalia Mudavadi during a past photo op at the ANC party Headquarters.

The speaker went on to say:“Further, it is notable that with respect to the members nominated to this House, the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya coalition party elected to nominate members under the names of its constituent parties. The Azimio la Umoja One Kenya coalition party seems to have elected to enter this House in both elective and nominative positions through its individual constituent parties. What is clear from the Constitution is that the leader of the majority party must lead either a party or a coalition of parties in the National Assembly, and not both.”

Speaker Wetangula also went on and threw out Azimio’s argument.That members could only exit the coalition party three months after the General Election. He said that it is not compliant with the Political Parties Act.

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