Laikipia Woman Representative Jane Kagiri has called on the Speaker of Parliament to stop skirting around the issue of determining the House majority through prolonged debates and instead conduct a straightforward headcount to settle the matter definitively.

Speaking in Parliament on Tuesday, February 11, 2025, amid heated discussions on which coalition holds the majority, Kagiri argued that lawmakers were wasting valuable time and energy when the Constitution already provides a clear mechanism for the Speaker to resolve such disputes through numerical verification. 

Kagiri was among a lineup of frustrated Kenya Kwanza leaders fiercely challenging a recent court ruling that declared the Azimio la Umoja coalition as the majority party in Parliament.

She contended that after carefully reviewing the court’s ruling, it became evident that of the 34 petitions submitted, the judges had only granted three—leaving the decision ambiguous.

“I attempted to go through the ruling, and I realized it was 711 pages long. I noted that out of the 34 prayers presented before the court, the judges only honored three. In one of their rulings, the judges stated that the majority and minority status were already determined at the ballot on August 9, 2022. Honourable Speaker, as a layperson, I would interpret this to mean that the decision made on the ballot was executed by the very members of Parliament seated in this House today. Honourable Speaker, I strongly believe it is within your power to resolve this matter once and for all by simply conducting a headcount,” she asserted.

Kagiri’s sentiments echoed those of her Baringo North counterpart, Joseph Makilap, who dismissed the court’s ruling and urged the Speaker to avoid hastily enforcing a decision that had already been subjected to judicial scrutiny. He argued that the court’s judgment was based on outdated agreements rather than the current political realities in Parliament.

Makilap was also speaking amid chaos after diverging from his Tharaka counterpart, George Gitonga Murugara, asserting that the court ruling favoring Azimio was anchored on an agreement signed on August 9, 2022, immediately after the August 8 general election.

However, Makilap took issue with the ruling, stating that the courts had failed to consider the significant post-election political shifts, particularly the mass defections of members from parties such as Jubilee and UDM to Kenya Kwanza.

He maintained that the determination of the majority should reflect the current composition of Parliament rather than being frozen in time based on outdated coalition agreements.

“This decision was locked in at the moment of August 9, 2022, based on what was referred to as a pre-election coalition agreement. However, once we were sworn in, post-election agreements also took effect. The reality is that the composition of Parliament is not static—it is an evolving dynamic, shaped by the shifting allegiances of MPs and the coalitions they choose to align with,” Makilap argued. By Jane Kagiri, The People