Court Rules on Decision That Declared Azimio Majority in Parliament
The Court of Appeal has dismissed a petition by National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang’ula that sought to overturn a High Court ruling declaring the Azimio la Umoja-One Kenya Coalition as the majority in Parliament.
In a judgment delivered on Friday, March 21, a three-judge bench ruled against Wetang’ula’s request to suspend the High Court’s decision, stating that doing so would effectively validate his claim that the Kenya Kwanza coalition still held the majority.
The court emphasized that issuing conservatory orders to halt the High Court ruling would interfere with the ongoing case, which is currently being heard by the same court.
The judges further rejected claims that the High Court’s ruling, delivered on February 7, had disrupted parliamentary operations.
“Regarding the argument that the High Court’s decision has significantly affected the National Assembly’s work, there is no sufficient evidence before us to support this claim,” the judges stated.
At the same time, the Appellate Court declined to comment on the issue of Wetang’ula’s dual role as both the Speaker of the National Assembly and the leader of the Ford Kenya party.
The judges explained that such a matter could not be addressed in an application for a stay of proceedings or execution, like the one presented before them. “We can only suspend a positive order issued by the trial court,” they added.
High Court Ruling Declaring Azimio as Majority
The Court of Appeal’s ruling follows a decision made by the High Court in Nairobi a month ago, which declared Azimio as the rightful majority in Parliament. The court also ruled that Wetang’ula acted unlawfully when he announced Kenya Kwanza as the majority.
According to the High Court, Wetang’ula failed to adhere to the law when he declared Kenya Kwanza as the majority on October 6, 2022. In his announcement, he stated that Kenya Kwanza had 179 members, while Azimio had 157. However, Justice Mugambi, who presided over the case, ruled that Wetang’ula ignored key legal considerations.
The judge noted that Wetang’ula disregarded a report from the Registrar of Political Parties, which indicated that as of April 21, 2022, Azimio had 22 parties under its umbrella, while Kenya Kwanza had only 15.
The court faulted the Speaker for assigning 14 members from other parties to Kenya Kwanza without any legal justification and using this as a basis to declare it the majority.
“By allocating Kenya Kwanza additional members from different parties without valid reasoning and subsequently declaring it the majority, Speaker Wetang’ula violated the Constitution,” the ruling stated.
Additionally, the court ruled that Wetang’ula’s dual role as both the Speaker of the National Assembly and the leader of the Ford Kenya party was unconstitutional. However, the Court of Appeal did not make any pronouncements on this matter in its latest ruling.
This latest decision by the Court of Appeal reinforces the High Court’s findings and upholds Azimio’s status as the majority in Parliament.
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