The High Court will on January 26, 2024, rule on whether to dismiss or proceed with a petition challenging National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang’ula’s declaration that Kenya Kwanza is the majority party in the National Assembly.
Senior counsel Fred Ngatia, representing Kenya Kwanza, urged a three-judge panel to order the petitioners to go back to the drawing board and devise different causes of action in which the court should intervene.
He said the grievances or reliefs sought by the 12 petitioners in the case are so distinct from each other making it impossible for a fair trial to ever succeed.
“There should be a commonality in the relief sought. In this case, they are quite different from one another. The complaints ought to be such that they can be litigated,” Ngatia said.
The petition is in response to Wetang’ula’s declaration in October 2022 that the Kenya Kwanza coalition is the majority party in the National Assembly.
The petition was filed after Kimani Ichung’wah, Owen Baya, Sylvanus Osoro, and Naomi Wako were appointed as majority leader, deputy majority leader, majority whip, and deputy majority whip as a result of Wetang’ula’s move.
The petitioners, Lempaa Suyianka, Kenneth Njagi, Meshack Suba, Teddy Muturi, Amos Wanjala, Stephen Kihonge, Sophie Dola, Winnie Thuo, Victor Ng’ang’a, Smon Lkoma, Caroline Mogaka, and Francis Kenya—argued that by defecting from Azimio to Kenya Kwanza, the MPs had violated the constitution.
Their lawyer Kibe Mungai argued that Azimio should be the majority coalition while Kenya Kwanza the minority.
They also claimed that Wetangula has never relinquished his position as the Ford Kenya Party leader begging the question on whether he ought to have contested for the speaker’s position.
The petitioners in their papers sought a raft of declarations and orders among them, an order setting aside Wetangula’s decision of October 6 last year, an order suspending Kanini Kega’s notice of 13 June seeking to withdraw Jubilee from Azimio, an order to suspend the implementation of the Finance Bill.
