President William Ruto's legislative agenda may be in disarray

President William Ruto's legislative agenda may be in disarray after former Prime Minister Raila Odinga's forces attempted to take over the majority positions in Parliament. Confusion reigned at the first sitting of the National Assembly on Tuesday after Azimio party MPs took the seats allocated to the majority party citing the decision of the three-member bench. Speaker Moses Wetang'ula came under fire as some of the MPs called for his head for ruling in October 2022 that Kenya Kwanza has 179 MPs against Azimio's 157. The Speaker threw in the towel and asked members to discuss the matter on which he is to make a decision and communicate it to Parliament. But while the verdict is still pending, the Azimio side led by Suna East MP Junet Mohammed insisted that the court's decision was final and must be implemented immediately unless an appeal was filed. "There is no third way to get around the court ruling of three judges. Either you comply with it or you appeal. This ruling must be respected. It cannot be taken lightly," Junet said. Political observers are of the view that the court ruling, if implemented, would affect the composition of House committees, especially those where Ruto men currently hold sway. The said House committees were formed in accordance with the ruling by Speaker Moses Wetang'ula, who informed the minority and majority parties. The nominations of parliamentary parties to the recently formed Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission selection panel were also guided by the ruling. The Standing Orders of the National Assembly stipulate that membership of each committee reflects the relative majority of seats held by each of the parliamentary parties. Azimio teams therefore have the right to claim the posts of chairpersons of the various departmental committees currently occupied by Ruto allies. This comes especially at a time when ODM bosses are sending conflicting signals about their support for Ruto. Without an appeal, Ruto's troops will lose their seats on the Parliamentary Service Commission, whose composition was also influenced by the Speaker's decision. Key committees likely to be affected include those on finance, budget, defence, security, health, agriculture, blue economy, ICT, education and energy. Others include the environment, social protection, labour, land, justice, trade, transport, housing and sports committees. Azimio's troops warned that a crisis would ensue if the matter was not addressed and insisted they would not back down. They insisted that the dispute was the Speaker's decision and argued that Azimio should be given his rightful posts without appeal. @the star,kenya