Win For Ruto After Wetangula Maintains Kenya Kwanza As Majority

National Assembly Speaker, Moses Wetangula has ruled that the Kenya Kwanza coalition remains the majority party of the House.

Ruling on the matter on Wednesday, February 12, Wetangula in criticism of the High Court ruling that stripped Kenya Kwanza of majority status, found that the judgement seemed to have caused unprecedented confusion.

"I have read the judgement and it has been explain to me at length by our able legal team. The matter is related to a mixed part of prayers. I have instructed that an appeal be launched against the judgment," he ruled in part.

According to Wetangula, Azimio la Umoja One Kenya party consists of 154 members while the Kenya Kwanza consists of 165 members. He noted that the numbers on Azimio were changed by a slight change of membership, a controversy he declined to engage in.

MPs Kimani Ichung'wah and Junet Mohamed in Parliament on February 11, 2025. /PARLIAMENT KENYA

"The Kenya Kwanza coalition is the majority party and the Azimio coalition is the minority. Consequently, the leadership of the house remains unchanged," he ruled.

The speaker's decision faced predictable opposition from Azimio-allied leaders, who walked out of the house as soon as Kimani Ichung'wah took the podium.

Leading the protests in the chamber was Suba North MP Millie Odhiambo, who declared plans to take further legal action on the issue. "As Azimio we very respectfully disagree with your communication... As Azimio we are going to take further action," Millie Odhiambo announced. 

In a chaotic session filled with confusion and power struggles, Wetangula struggled to manage Azimio-affiliated lawmakers, who firmly insisted they held the majority in parliament.

However, Wetangula defended his decision to recognize Kenya Kwanza as the majority in a detailed statement, questioning the validity of a court ruling issued less than a week earlier.

He argued that parts of the judgment undermined the principle of impartiality and criticized Justices John Chigiti, Lawrence Mugambi, and Jairus Ngaah for what he claimed were significant factual and legal inconsistencies in their ruling.

Wetangula also dismissed the notion that all legislations passed by the house have been thrown out because of the High Court ruling, saying, "There was no order from the court in this regard to precipitate this kind of thinking."

The ruling found that Speaker Wetang’ula violated the Constitution in making the determination on October 6, 2022, thought to have sparked controversy, a move that had handed Azimio la Umoja the upper hand in the battle.

The ruling originated from a decision made by the Speaker at the time, in which 14 members from different parties were reassigned to Kenya Kwanza, shifting the balance in the coalition’s favour and allowing it to secure majority status.

The ruling led to dramatic scenes on Tuesday, February 11 in the August House as MPs including Kathiani’s Robert Mbui, Mogotio’s Reuben Kiborek, Kisii County Woman Representative Dorice Donya Toto Aburi, Embakasi East MP Babu Owino, and Tiaty MP William Kamket switched sides between majority and minority.

A similar confrontation unfolded in the Senate, where ODM Secretary General and Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna led Azimio Senators in occupying the majority seats. 

Breakdown

The Kenya Kwanza coalition secured its 165 majority seats from several parties, including the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) with 145 members, Amani National Congress (ANC) with 8, FORD-K with 6, The Service Party (TSP) with 2, National Agenda Party of Kenya (NAP-K) with 1, Grand Dream Development Party (GDDP) with 1, Democratic Party (DP) with 1, and Chama Cha Mashinani (CCM) with 1.

On the other hand, the Azimio coalition's 145 seats came from the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) with 83 members, Jubilee Party (JP) with 28, Wiper Democratic Movement (WDM) with 26, Kenya African National Union (KANU) with 6, Democratic Alliance Party of Kenya (DAP-K) with 5, Kenya Union Party (KUP) with 3, United Party of Independent Alliance (UPIA) with 2, and Movement for Democracy and Growth (MDG) with 1.

Meanwhile, members from The United Democratic Movement (UDM), National Ordinary People Empowerment Union (NOPEU), United Progressive Alliance (UPA), Maendeleo Chap Chap Party (MCCP), and Pamoja African Alliance (PAA) are classified as independent.