Senator Cheruiyot Named Majority Leader, To Be Deputized by Tabitha Karanja

Speaker of the Senate Amason Kingi has announced the House leadership.

Kingi said that the leader of majority will henceforth be Kericho’s Aaron Cheruiyot who will be deputized by Nakuru’s Tabitha Karanja.

Kakamega senator Boni Khalwale and Samburu’s Steve Lelegwe are the Majority and deputy majority Whips, respectively.

Senators Steward Madzayo (Kilifi) and Enoch Wambua (Kitui) as minority and deputy minority leader respectively.

Read: Showdown Looms in Parliament Over Leader of Majority Position

Isiolo senator Fatuma Dullo is the minority whip with Narok senator Ledama Olekina as her deputy.

The speaker had earlier rejected Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Alliance’s attempts to challenge Kenya Kwanza’s majority status in the House.

Some Azimio allied lawmakers claimed that the President William Ruto-led outfit ceased being the majority coalition following the resignation of Moses Wetangula as the Bungoma senator.

They also argued that the appointment of senators Kipchumba Murkomen and Soipan Tuya to the Cabinet tipped the scale in their favour.

Read Also: Kenya Kwanza Names Kikuyu MP Ichung’wah As National Assembly Majority Leader

Rising on a point of order soon after the speaker announced the House leadership, Kisumu senator Tom Ojienda claimed that with the resignation and nominations of the senators to the Cabinet, Kenya Kwanza numbers relegated them to minority wing.

“The net effect of this nomination is that Azimio has 32 members while Kenya Kwanza has 31. That will make Azimio majority coalition in line with Section 2 of the Political Parties Act,” Ojienda said.

Senator Cheruiyot, however, dismissed the claims as “hearsay” as there was no official communication from the said senators or the speaker.

“This is what we can regard as hearsay. There is no official communication from the speaker that the said senators have resigned. It is clear, Kenya Kwanza has 36 members and Azimio has 29,” he said.

Read Also: Azimio Unveils National Assembly, Senate Leadership

Cheruiyot was criticized by Ledama and Wambua for calling Ojienda’s claim “hearsay.”

They claimed that the President had made the two senators’ appointment as CSs public knowledge.

Noting that Wetangula’s resignation did not change the outcome, the speaker stated in his ruling that he had not received any resignation letters from the senators who had been selected to serve as cabinet secretaries.

Kingi stated that Azimio coalition itself wrote to him letting him know that it is the minority coalition.

“We sit here, no senator has passed on. No senator has resigned. The resignation of senator Wetang’ula did not tilt the numbers,” the speaker ruled.