Registrar of Political Parties Anne Nderitu has clarified that the decision on which party holds the majority or minority status in the National Assembly is solely the Speaker’s responsibility.
Speaking during a media interview on March 3, 2025, Nderitu emphasized that her office only provides factual data on coalition memberships and does not influence parliamentary decisions.
“The determination on who is majority and minority is squarely on the doorstep of the Speaker. What we do is just provide the state of coalitions, simply telling the Speaker, ‘These are the people who are in this coalition. These other ones are in this coalition. These other ones are free members; they are not in any coalition,’” she explained.
She further stated that her office regularly supplies updated information on party affiliations and coalition agreements upon request from the National Assembly. However, she made it clear that interpreting and applying the data within the parliamentary framework remains the Speaker’s duty.
“We just provide data upon request under which they have requested at periodic stages. And when we provide that, we leave it to the Speaker to interpret the data and make the determination because that is the work of a Speaker,” she added.
Meanwhile, the Court of Appeal is set to rule on March 21 on whether to suspend the High Court’s decision that declared the Azimio coalition the majority party in the National Assembly.
Previously, the High Court nullified Speaker Moses Wetang’ula’s decision to recognize Kenya Kwanza as the majority party, ruling in favor of Azimio. However, Wetang’ula maintained Kenya Kwanza’s majority status, citing its 165 members against Azimio’s 154, and called for an appeal.
