Azimio is the Majority Party in the National Assembly, the High Court has ruled, dealing a body blow to the ruling Kenya Kwanza Alliance.
Justices John Chigiti, Jairus Ngaah and Lawrence Mugambi, in a far-reaching ruling that is set to trigger a political tsunami, said that the Azimio One Kenya Coalition Party, whose chairman is retired President Uhuru Kenyatta, has majority of MPs in the National Assembly.
That effectively means that Kikuyu MP Kimani Ichungw’ah is no longer the Majority Leader after the courts dislodged the Kenya Kwanza Alliance from the perk it has enjoyed since Speaker Moses Wetang’ula ruled that it was the majority party.
According to the three judges, Mr Wetang’ula violated the Constitution when he declared Kenya Kwanza — the coalition led by President William Ruto — as the majority party.
Unless the ruling is appealed and overturned, Suna East MP Junet Mohamed is likely to find himself swapping roles with Mr Ichungw’ah unless Azimio meets to elect a Leader of Majority.
In his ruling, Mr Wetang’ula had reassigned 14 MPs from various parties to the Kenya Kwanza Alliance. Among those affected were legislators from the Jubilee Party of Kenya, whose leader is Mr Kenyatta, and whose presidential candidate was Mr Raila Odinga, who is now seeking to be the chair of the African Union Commission in elections slated for next week.
The case was filed in court by Mr Ken Njagi, lawyer Soyinka Lempaa and 10 other petitions represented by Mr Kibe Mungai. The Law Society of Kenya, Katiba Institute and the Jubilee Party and Azimio were listed as interested parties.
“We wish to commend and applaud the decision of the three-judge bench of the High Court for upholding the Constitution and the integrity of multiparty democracy in Kenya,” said Mr Mungai in a press briefing after the ruling in Nairobi on Friday, February 7.
According to him, the issue of who constituted the majority in the National Assembly was settled by the August, 2022 election.
“Over the last two years, the Kenya Kwanza government, using Kimani Ichungw’ah and other people unlawfully in office, has been running the government of Kenya contrary to the Constitution of Kenya,” he said.
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