Moses Wetangula
National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula’s impartiality has been questioned after his recent active involvement in the Bungoma senatorial by-elections.
Although the law does not require him to resign as a party official, lawyers and politicians believe he should take a back seat in Ford Kenya’s affairs.
They argue that a speaker’s impartiality in running parliamentary affairs is compromised if he is perceived to be affiliated with a specific political party.
“Any appointed state officer shall not hold office in a political party,” states Article 77(2) of the Constitution.
In a previous interview, Wetang’ula’s predecessor, now-Attorney General Justin Muturi, stated that a speaker should not hold an active party position in order to remain impartial in the performance of duties.
“It is a very dicey situation, according to my experience; that is why you never saw me attend parliamentary group meetings of Jubilee or TNA in my first term. Attending such meetings ends up compromising your impartiality,” said Muturi.
According to ODM chairman John Mbadi, Parliament should reconsider the law that allows the Speaker to continue holding party office.
“When he promotes party interests out there, then he will not maintain neutrality in Parliament. It is a grey area that Parliament needs to look at because the Speaker needs to be neutral,” Mbadi says.
Democratic Action Party Kenya (Dap-K) Secretary General Eseli Simiyu on the other hand has described Wetang’ula’s continued involvement in active party politics as the height of impunity while accusing him of using his official vehicles for campaigns.
“It is just outright impunity. He is even using National Assembly vehicles to campaign in Bungoma. Azimio cannot get any favour from him as the speaker. That is why he ruled against Azimio on the majority side contest,” said Eseli.
Also Read: Wetangula Speaks on the Bungoma Senatorial Race, Throws Support behind his Personal Assistant
