Azimio Begs CJ Koome For Help Over Sabina Chege Ouster

Azimio la Umoja Coalition on Monday, June 12 turned to Chief Justice Martha Koome regarding the removal of Nominated Member of Parliament (MP) Sabina Chege as the Deputy Minority Whip.

In a letter to the CJ by lawyer Paul Mwangi, Azimio sought clarity from CJ Koome on whether a petitioner by the name of Association of Friends of Youth and Women travelled exactly 16 kilometres to file a petition in Kiambu County instead of the Nairobi High Court was against the Constitution.

Azimio claimed that the decision broke the Protection of Rights and Fundamental Freedoms Practice and Procedure Rules, 2013 stipulating where a petition should be filed.

“Every case shall be instituted in the High Court within whose jurisdiction the alleged violation took place. Petition E025 of 2023 deals with a decision made by The Speaker of The National Assembly.

"The Speaker works at Parliament Buildings and in the Chamber of the National Assembly, all in the City of Nairobi. The violations alleged against the Speaker thus took place in Nairobi,” read the letter in part.

Part of the Constitution states that every case shall be instituted in the High Court within whose jurisdiction the alleged violation took place.

The letter also questioned why the coalition and Sabina Chege were excluded from the case yet the court order was issued to the lawmaker in absentia.

“The Petition in question emanates from the decision of Azimio La Umoja One Kenya Coalition Party to de-whip the Hon. Sabina Chege as the Deputy Whip of the Minority Party at the National Assembly. That notwithstanding, Azimio La Umoja One Kenya Coalition Party was not made a party to these proceedings,” Azimio stated.

The Clause within the Constitution provides that the Court may at any stage of the proceedings, either upon or without the application of either party, and on such terms as may appear just, order that the name of any person who ought to have been joined, or whose presence before the court may be necessary in order to enable the court to adjudicate upon and settle the matter, be added.

“This feeling is reinforced by the fact that the court issued orders to Sabina Chege in absentia and ex parte Azimio La Umoja One Kenya Coalition Party,” the statement added.

The Court ruling, issued on May 30, 2023, issued a conservatory order suspending the implementation of the decision to remove Sabina from the Office of the Deputy Minority Whip in the National as communicated by Speaker Moses Wetangula on May 4, 2023.

The speaker allowed Sabina Chege to continue serving as the Deputy Minority Whip until when the cases she filed will be heard and determined. 

"Honorable members from the foregoing, my hands are tired with regard to the court order that has been brought to my attention," he said.

"Until and unless further information is provided, that this order has been varied or set aside, the court order effectively suspends the decision by the minority party on the replacement of Sabina Chege as the deputy minority whip."

MPs from both sides of the House began hurling insults at each other after the ruling, which forced Wetangula to suspend the sitting for 15 minutes to allow emotions to cool down, but even after the sitting resumed, the jeering continued.