National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula has rejected calls to relinquish his position to Deputy Speaker Gladys Boss Shollei, following a court ruling that questioned his impartiality as a neutral arbiter.
The High Court declared Azimio La Umoja One Kenya Alliance coalition as the Majority Party in the National Assembly and ruled that Wetangula should have resigned as Ford Kenya party leader upon assuming office as National Assembly Speaker.
While riding on a standing order, Odhiambo asked the Speaker to resign from the proceeding as the court ruling found that the speaker could harbour a conflict of interest as he remains the Party Leader of Ford Kenya and Speaker of the National Assembly.
Millie, who termed herself as the Majority Whip, then stood on a point of order and asked Wetangula to resign which has led the House to debate. She went on to submit the Azimio Coalition’s Majority Leaders and Deputy Majority Leaders as Junet Mohamed and Robbert Mbui respectively.
However, Wetangula dismissed the calls, arguing that there was no substantive motion before the House to warrant his resignation. He also maintained that the ruling did not cast any aspersions on his conduct.
“I have read the judgment with a fine-tooth comb, and nowhere does it cast aspersions on the Speaker. Yours truly, as your Speaker, does not engage in debate—do not go down that route,” Wetangula stated.
He further emphasized that the National Assembly, and by extension Parliament, is an independent arm of government and that no external entity has the authority to dictate its conduct.
“It will ultimately be yours truly who gives the ruling. Neither the court nor any other organization can make decisions on behalf of this House. We sit as a quasi-judicial body,” he remarked.
