President William Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza Alliance is set to face off with Raila Odinga’s Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Alliance in Parliament over the House leadership positions.
Both camps are laying claim to the majority leader positions. Speaker Moses Wetangula is set to make a ruling later today.
The first order of business will be to form the House Business Committee (HBC) on which the leader of majority sits.
Kikuyu MP Kimani Ichung’wa of UDA will face off with Ugunja’s Opiyo Wandayi (Azimio).
Read: Kenya Kwanza Names Kikuyu MP Ichung’wah As National Assembly Majority Leader
Speaking to the Nation, the third-term MP said he is the legitimate leader of majority as Kenya Kwanza has the largest number of members in Parliament.
“The Speaker will definitely be asked to make his considered determination on who is the leader of majority in the House today. But from where I sit, I am [that person] because Kenya Kwanza [has most MPs].” he said.
Wandayi on his part noted that the Speaker has no say in the matter as the Law is clear.
“There’s nothing to be ruled on. It’s not within the province of the Speaker to decide to the House where the leader of majority and minority should come,” he said.
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Article 108 of the Constitution states the leader of the majority party shall be the person who is the leader in the House of the largest party or coalition of parties. It also states that the leader of minority party shall be the leader in the House of the second largest party or coalition of parties.
President Ruto told a Kenya Kwanza Parliamentary Group that they have the numbers in the Bicameral House.
However, Azimio maintains that it is the majority side as confirmed by the Registrar of Political Parties (RPP) Anne Nderitu.
In her September 7 letter to the acting Clerk of the National Assembly, Ms Serah Kioko, Ms Nderitu said that 26 political parties that signed the Azimio coalition agreement on April 21, got 185 MPs of the 349 MPs in the National Assembly.
Read Also: Azimio Allied MPs To March to IEBC Offices in Protest of Kulundu’s Interdiction
Kenya Kwanza on the other hand has 164 MPs including the 12 elected as independents in the August 9 polls.
In the 67-member Senate, Kenya Kwanza clinched the majority party with 36 Senators compared to Azimio’s 30 and one independent senator.
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