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NAIROBI, Kenya Feb 13 – The debate over National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula’s impartiality has taken an ethnic twist with Western parliamentary leaders caucus shielding him from what they term as ‘sponsored media attack’.
Wetangula has been in the spotlight for a week now with his reputation as National Assembly speaker being questioned after the High Court overruled his ruling deeming the Kenya Kwanza Alliance as the majority coalition in the house.
Led by Sirisia Member of Parliament John Walukhe, they alleged that the recent publications against him have been sponsored by detractors keen on assassinating his character.
“As Members of Parliament who participated in the election of the Speaker, we wish to note our serious disapproval of this veiled narrative that we suspect is sponsored by serious enemies of progress. We shall not allow any person to attempt to downgrade the status of the Speaker,” said Mary Emase, Vice Chairperson of the caucus.
“We put the personalities who are behind this fake and false script on notice. If they are worth their salt, let them come forward and face us in the open instead of hiding in the shadows,” the Teso South MP added.
Dagoretti North MP Beatrice Elachi decried that the debate on the majority and minority status had morphed into disparaging the character of the Speaker despite him enjoying bi-partisan support in the house.
“I think it’s very unfortunate. And so the most important thing, first of all, coming from the community of Western there’s no way speaker is going nowhere, nowhere. That one we have to say. And so even if we do other things, the matter of this Speaker is out completely,” Elachi retorted.
She insisted that Western leaders will not be cowed into silence.
“Protect your people, you must learn to protect your people. Thats what the country has become, it’s not because of anyone. That’s how we have made our country and that’s how we will protect it. That’s how other people are protecting their people,” noted Elachi.
This comes hours after the opposition coalition threatened to impeach Wetangula over alleged impartiality in his ruling, which contradicted a High Court decision declaring the Azimio coalition as the majority in Parliament.
Minority Leader Junet Mohamed criticized Wetangula’s handling of the matter, accusing him of inconsistencies regarding the status of 14 MPs who defected from Azimio after signing post-election agreements with Kenya Kwanza.
“When he made his first ruling, which was overturned by the court, he claimed the 14 members were part of Kenya Kwanza. Now, he says they are in political limbo—neither in Azimio nor Kenya Kwanza. This is a deliberate manipulation of numbers to ensure Kenya Kwanza remains the majority,” Junet said.
The Suna East MP also questioned why the Jubilee Party was now being considered part of Azimio, despite Wetang’ula’s previous ruling stating that the party had defected to Kenya Kwanza.
“We have always maintained that Jubilee is still part of Azimio, yet today he says the party is in Azimio. This ruling is full of contradictions and will be overturned in court, just like the previous one. Parliament is not immune to constitutional interpretation by the courts—it is not a court of appeal,” he added.
The opposition also took issue with Deputy Speaker Gladys Boss for writing to the Registrar of Political Parties to seek details on post-election agreements, questioning her motives.
“It’s going to be messy and noisy, and there will be casualties, I can promise you. The way Parliament is being handled is alarming. While we see broad-based governance in the Executive, Parliament is becoming one-sided,” Junet warned.
Minority Whip Millie Odhiambo reiterated that political agreements must be guided by the law and accused the Speaker of deliberately suppressing Azimio’s numbers.
“The 14 members who are supposedly in a political vacuum have done so to deny Azimio its rightful majority. Despite shifting political alliances, legal frameworks must be respected,” she stated.
Wetangula upheld the Kenya Kwanza Alliance as the majority coalition in the National Assembly in a fresh declaration following the High Court decision nullifying his initial declaration.
In his ruling on the implications of the court decision on House proceedings, the Speaker cited post-election agreements filed with the Registrar of Political Parties as a key factor in determining the majority status.
He referenced coalition agreements from the Registrar, which indicated that 14 MPs from five political parties had exited Azimio La Umoja, thereby denying the opposition coalition the majority status it sought.
