Clash At National Assembly As Junet Mohamed Asserts Himself As Majority Leader

The National Assembly got off to a chaotic start on Tuesday, February 11 as Members of Parliament returned to business from their long recess, with the Majority and Minority debate top of the agenda.

It all began with Suba North Member of Parliament Millie Odhiambo raising a point of order seeking Speaker Moses Wetangula to declare Suna East MP Junet Mohamed as the majority leader.

This was in response to a High Court ruling that the Kenya Kwanza coalition led by President William Ruto is not the majority party in the National Assembly. A three-judge bench on Friday, February 7 found that Speaker Wetang’ula violated the Constitution in making the determination on October 6, 2022, thought to have sparked controversy, a move that handed Azimio la Umoja the upper hand in the battle.

"As the Majority Party Whip, I have handed over to your office a copy of the decision of the High Court with a letter that we are giving you our Majority leader as Junet Mohamed. As a Parliament, we need to obey court rulings and decisions even when we don’t agree with them," Millie argued. 

Notably, some Azimio MPs took it upon themselves to occupy seats on the Kenya Kwanza side and compel their colleagues to move to the minority side.

"This mindset that the ruling party must have a majority in Parliament for them to do Executive work, must be done away with. We must emulate democracies that have matured. Until an appeal is made & this matter overturned, I shall be recognized as the Majority leader," he affirmed.

"I am privileged to speak from the seat of the Majority leader. Even when I sat on the seat, it was very warm, unlike mine which was very cold. I don’t foresee myself leaving this seat any time soon. I have the capacity, qualifications, capabilities, numbers and everything that it takes."

Millie also sought clarity from Wetangula regarding his position as the National Assembly speaker. In the same ruling, the court ruled that Wetang’ula’s simultaneous roles as Speaker and Leader of Ford Kenya were unconstitutional, a matter which leaves Wetangula with no choice but to choose which role to maintain.

From the moment members entered the House at 2:30 pm, tensions ran high. As Owen Baya, the Deputy Majority Leader in the National Assembly, rose to table documents, opposition-aligned MPs responded with heckling and loud protests.

Citing a standing order, Odhiambo called on the Speaker to step down from the proceedings, arguing that the court ruling indicated a potential conflict of interest. "I, therefore, humbly request you to step down and mandate Hon. Gladys Boss Shollei to take over in discharging the functions as the Speaker because of your conflict of interest," Millie stated.

However, Wetangula said there is no special motion before the floor of the House seeking his removal, adding that the decision by the court did not demand his removal.

"As to whether the Speaker, yours truly, should preside over these proceedings or not, I’ll dispose it off as follows. There’s no motion before this House about the Speaker. I am a senior lawyer in this country and I’m your senior Millie Odhiambo. I have read that judgment with a tooth comb and there’s nowhere it requires the Speaker to do what you’ve said," he told her off.

Wetang’ula then further asserted that the ruling does not cast aspersions on the speaker conducting such proceedings. “Neither the court nor any other authority outside this Chamber can make a declaration that affects the conduct of business here except yourselves by voting and the speaker giving you rulings," he said.