Suba South MP Caroli Omondi speaks on the floor of Parliament on February 11, 2025. /SCREENSHOTThe National Assembly was Tuesday thrown into disarray as legislators tried to interpret a February 7, High Court ruling that the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition was the majority side in House.
Members allied to the Raila Odinga-led outfit under the stewardship of Junet Mohamed occupied the majority side of the House and prevented their Kenya Kwanza counterparts from executing business as the majority side.
The supremacy battle opened room for debate about which side was the bona fide majority as either of the political factions sought to affirm their legitimacy as the House leadership.
In their ruling, Justices John Chigiti, Jairus Ngaah, and Lawrence Mugambi ruled that Azimio was the bona fide majority alliance in the National Assembly and faulted Speaker Moses Wetang'ula for having assigned the role to the Kenya Kwanza side.
In the case filed by Ken Njagi, advocate Lempaa Soyinka, and 10 others represented by Advocate Kibe Mungai, the court said Wetang'ula failed to table proof that parties of 14 MPs who defected from Azimio signed post-election agreements with Kenya Kwanza.
The 14 legislators were drawn from the United Democratic Movement (UDM), Movement for Democracy and Growth (MDG), Maendeleo Chap Chap (MCC), and Pamoja African Alliance (PAA).
When he stood to speak, Suba South MP Caroli Omondi said according to the law, only the Registrar of Political Parties can determine which side is the majority in the National Assembly, the court ruling not withstanding.
He said the court made the decision but did not declare how the process of determining the House leadership should be done.
"It's not for the court; it's not for the speaker of this House to decide. It's not even for this House to debate and decide," he said.
Omondi said the right procedure is that the clark of the House writes to the Registrar of Political Parties then the registrar responds, stating which side of the political divide is the majority based on the election results of August 2022.
"On the basis of the letter from the Registrar of Political Parties, this House gets to know which is the majority party. That is the position in law, and that is the part we must go back to," he said.
"As we speak today, there's neither a majority leader nor a minority leader in this House," he added.
The National Assembly has a total membership of 349, out of which 12 are slots for nominated MPs based on respective party strengths in the House.
After the August 8, 2022 elections, the Kenya Kwanza side led by President William Ruto had 163 MPs while Azimio under Raila's leadership had 180 before several of the opposition coalition MPs shifted allegience to the Kenya Kwanza side, the basis on which Wetang'ula declared the ruling coalition the majority side.
