The Speaker of the National Assembly, Hon. Moses Wetangula, has reaffirmed that the Kenya Kwanza Coalition retains its position as the Majority Party, with the Azimio La Umoja One Kenya Coalition Party continuing as the Minority Party.

Delivering his ruling on Wednesday, February 12, 2025, the Speaker informed Members that the current House leadership remains unchanged.

“The Kenya Kwanza Coalition is the Majority Party while the Azimio La Umoja One Kenya Coalition Party is the Minority Party, the existing leadership of the House remains unchanged.” declared the Speaker.

The pronouncement follows a Point of Order raised by the Hon. Millie Odhiambo-Mabona, concerning a recent High Court judgment and the designation of Majority and Minority parties.

Hon. Millie Odhiambo-Mabona cited a ruling in the case of Kenneth Njagi Njiru vs. State Law and Jubilee Party of Kenya where the court declared a previous Communication from the Speaker on the Majority and Minority Parties to be unconstitutional.

She argued that, in light of this ruling, the Azimio La Umoja One Kenya Coalition Party should be recognized as the Majority Party, with Hon. Junet Mohammed as the Majority Leader and Hon. Robert Mbui as the Deputy Majority Leader.

Speaker Wetangula provided guidance to lawmakers, emphasizing the constitutional basis for determining party leadership in the House. He reassured Members that the recent court ruling did not invalidate past parliamentary business and focused on clarifying the current composition of the House.

“It should be beyond doubt that there was no order of the Court in this regard to precipitate this kind of thinking and there cannot have been such a blanket order,” Speaker Wetangula stated, clarifying the scope of the High Court’s judgment.

#NewsUpdate: National Assembly Speaker Wetangula rules Kenya Kwanza as the majority with 165 members and Azimio as minority with 154, says House leadership remains unchanged. pic.twitter.com/E0z3FdqqFQ

— Frontier Online (@FrontierOnlineK) February 12, 2025

He further asserted that “the decisions which arise from the business transacted by the House has no relation to which party is designated as the majority or minority. They are decisions of the House as a whole.”

To definitively settle the question of majority status, the Speaker referenced Gazette Notices from the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) and official communications from the Registrar of Political Parties.

“A simple calculation of the cited numbers with reference to the communication and coalition agreements received from the Registrar of Political Parties indicates the cumulative number of the Members of the constituent parties.”

“Azimio La Umoja One Kenya Coalition Party consists of 154 Members computed by adding the Membership of the Orange Democratic Movement (83); Jubilee Party (28); Wiper Democratic Movement (26); Kenya African National Union (6); the Democratic Alliance Party of Kenya (5); the Kenya Union Party (3) the United Party of Independent Alliance (2) and the Movement for Democracy and Growth (1).”

Dr. Wetang’ula added that, “The Kenya Kwanza Alliance consists of 165 Members computed by adding the Membership of the United Democratic Alliance (145); the Amani National Congress (8); FORD-Kenya (6); The Service Party (2); the National Agenda Party of Kenya (1); the Grand Dream Development Party (1); the Democratic Party (1) and Chama Cha Mashinani (1).”

Addressing concerns about potential leadership changes, the Speaker noted, “To date, I have received no official communication from either the Kenya Kwanza Coalition or the Azimio La Umoja One Kenya Coalition Party proposing any alterations to their House leadership. Consequently, the leadership that was in place at the conclusion of the last session will remain unchanged.”

Furthermore, Speaker Wetangula spoke to the position of the 14 Members belonging to parties outside the two major coalitions and independent Members. He guaranteed their equitable inclusion in Committee nominations.

“Permit me at this stage to address the fate of the 14 Members who, as per the letter from the Registrar of Political Parties, belong to parties other than parliamentary parties that are not affiliated with the two identified coalitions in the House. I wish to reiterate that these 14 Members and all Independent Members shall be treated equally in nomination to the Committees of the House and access to any other attendant entitlements, “Dr. Wetang’ula affirmed.

The Speaker called on the Committee on Selection to prioritize the reconstitution of Committees, especially the Budget and Appropriations Committee, given the approaching deadline for the Budget Policy Statement.