A month after lawmakers resumed normal sittings following their long December holidays, various house committees whose term expired in the last session are yet to be reconstituted due to the differences between the Azimio la Umoja coalition and the ruling Kenya Kwanza Alliance on the composition of the members.
Insiders aware of the intrigues ongoing revealed that the current deadlock is occasioned by the fact that the Azimio la Umoja coalition headed by Raila Odinga is claiming control of more than ten committees as a way of silencing them following the decision of Speaker Moses Wetangula to declare Kenya Kwanza as the majority in the house yet they insisted that they were the majority party.
So bad is the deadlock that the Majority and Minority side have more than four times pushed the tabling of the names in the house despite the matter being listed in the order paper.
The result of the delay in constitution of the committees, has forced Wetangula to re-assign the consideration of the Budget Policy Statement (BPS) and the Medium-Term Debt Strategy, which were tabled in the House on February 13, 2025, to the Liaison Committee.
The Budget Supplementary Estimates II for the 2024/2025 financial year, which would ordinarily be considered by the Budget and appropriations committee is also currently being handled by the Liaison Committee.
A highly placed source who sits within the House Business Committee (HBC), disclosed that the Majority Whip Sylvanus Osoro and his Minority counterpart Millie Odhiambo were yet to submit the names of members to be included in the reconstituted House teams due to the deadlock.
The deadlock has specifically been occasioned by the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party demands that it be allowed to proposes chairs of Budget and Appropriations Committee formerly steered by Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro and that of Finance and Planning chaired by Molo MP Kuria Kimani which United Democratic Alliance (UDA) has been claiming ownership to.
The sources further revealed that apart from the Budget and Appropriations Committee, the opposition side wants to be allowed to take control of Transport, Energy, Finance, Health, Labour, Regional Integration, and Trade and Industry.
“It is interesting that one day the Kenya Kwanza team agrees to let go of the Budget committee but the next it’s not. What has been happening is that shortly after an agreement has been made on who will chair the committee, phone calls from the party’s top brass comes in and changes everything,” stated the source.
The demands by the opposition comes after Wetangula declared the Kenya Kwanza side as the majority party in the National Assembly as it has 165 members thus constituting the majority while the Azimio La umoja has 145 thus comprising the minority a move that saw the opposition side claiming it will remove him from office.
In his communication to the house, Wetangula said that Kenya Kwanza has 165 members comprising the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) with 145 members, Amani National Congress (ANC) 8 members, Ford-Kenya (FORD-K) 6 members, The Service Party (TSP) 2 members, National Agenda Party of Kenya (NAP-K) 1 member, Grand Dream Development Party (GDDP) 1 member Democratic Party (DP) 1, Chama Cha Mashinani (CCM) 1 member.
Azimio la Umoja members has 145 members comprising Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) 83 members, Jubilee Party (JP) 28 members, Wiper Democratic Movement (WDM) 26 members, Kenya African National Union (KANU) 6 members, Democratic Alliance Party of Kenya (DAP-K) five members, Kenya Union Party (KUP) 3 members, United Party of Independent Alliance (UPIA) 2 members and Movement for Democracy and Growth (MDG) one member
He said: “the Kenya Kwanza Coalition is the Majority Party while the Azimio La Umoja One Kenya Coalition Party is the Minority Party. To the extent that I have not received any communication from the Azimio La Umoja One Kenya Coalition Party or the Kenya Kwanza Coalition replacing their leadership in the House, the existing leadership of the House remains unchanged.
It is against this background that the opposition demanded that they be given slots to chair a number of committees owing to the fact that Ruto is working with Raila in a broad-based government as well as enable them to drop their impeachment threats.
Among those who targeted in the included Nyoro’s committee as well as allies of ousted Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua including Gatanga’s Edward Muriu and Kirinyaga Woman Rep Njeri Maina, who are members of the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee (JLAC), Embakasi North’s James Gakuya who chairs the Trade Committee, Gathoni Wamuchomba who chairs the Constitutional Implementation Oversight Committee along with 13 other MPs.
Nyoro who in the past has been loyal to President William Ruto is on the chopping board due to his decision to skip the National Assembly voting on the impeachment of Gachagua as well as due to his absence during the voting of Deputy President Kithure Kindiki.
Apart from the Kindiki allies, the other committees that are targeted for re-organization include the Committee on Members’ Services and Facilities, the Committee of Powers and Privileges, the Procedure & House Rules Committee, the Public Accounts Committee, Special Funds Accounts Committed, Decentralized Funds Accounts, the Public Investments Committee on Governance and Education, Public Investments Committee on Commercial Affairs and Energy, Public Investments Committee on Social Services, Administration & Agriculture, Budget and Appropriations Committee and Public Debt and Privatization Committee
Others are the Public Petitions Committee, the Diaspora Affairs and Migrant Workers Committee, the Committee on Implementation, the Committee on Delegated Legislation, the Committee on Regional Integration and the Committee on National Cohesion and Equal Opportunity.
– By Wamuyu Wanjohi
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