Azimio la Umoja Region Established as Majority Coalition

Azimio Declared Majority in National Assembly – Court Ruling

A three-judge bench consisting of Justices John Chigiti, Jairus Ngaah, and Lawrence Mugambi has overturned the Speaker’s decision, affirming that the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Alliance is the legitimate majority in the National Assembly.

In a session on January 16, 2025, the High Court nullified the declaration made by National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula, which had labeled the Kenya Kwanza coalition as the majority party.

The judges determined that Wetangula acted irrationally in assigning 14 members of the Azimio coalition, who had resigned, to the Kenya Kwanza alliance.

Wetangula had alleged that several Azimio members had formally communicated their disassociation from the party led by Raila Odinga.

The 14 MPs included representatives from the United Democratic Movement (UDM), Movement for Democracy and Growth (MDG), Maendeleo Chap Chap (MCC), and Pamoja African Alliance (PAA).

However, the bench noted that Wetangula failed to provide any evidence of post-election agreements involving these parties and the Kenya Kwanza coalition in his court affidavit.

Despite Wetangula’s claims that the agreements were filed with the registrar of political parties, the judges emphasized that without proof, his decision stands invalid.

The judges pointed out that Kimani Ichung’wah, who claimed to have presented the agreements in Parliament during the debate on majority and minority, also did not provide any formal documents in court.

Additionally, the judges stated that Wetangula lacked grounds to ignore the registrar’s ruling on the membership of both coalitions.

As per the documents from the Registrar of Political Parties, the Azimio coalition comprised 26 political parties, while Kenya Kwanza included 15 as of April 21, 2022.

The bench concluded that Wetangula’s ruling regarding the National Assembly leadership violated Article 108 of the constitution, which outlines the criteria for leaders of the majority and minority parties.

Furthermore, they ruled that Wetangula’s dual role as Speaker and leader of Ford-Kenya is both unlawful and unconstitutional. Justice Mugambi remarked that his positions create a perception of bias, undermining Parliament’s independence. The judges unanimously ruled that Wetangula cannot fulfill the duties of a political leader while serving as Speaker.