Speaker accused of silencing UDA critics in House

National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang’ula.[FILE/Standard]

National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang’ula wears controversy like his Sunday best suit. He has faced a barrage of accusations over the manner he has conducted himself by locking out voices critical of the government during debates and engaging in party politics at the behest of the ruling coalition, Kenya Kwanza.

His critics accuse him of abandoning his role of an independent arbiter and compromising the independence of Parliament to becoming the ruling United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party mouthpiece.

His partiality and involvement in campaigning for President William Ruto’s re-election has attracted the wrath of some elected leaders.

This week, Senate’s  ruling party’s chief whip Bonny Khalwale accused Wetang’ula of violating chapter 6 of the Constitution on the leadership and integrity that outlines the ethical standards of State officers and which ensures that leaders are competent, impartial, honest, selfless, and accountable.

According to Khalwale, Wetang’ula has vacated the responsibility of the Speaker and has reduced himself as an agent of the ruling party.

“The responsibility of the Speaker should not be vacated at any given time. The Speaker of the National Assembly is participating in empowerment functions where they dish money from the public coffers behaving like an agent of UDA. Nowhere in the history of Republic of Kenya has the Speaker ever done that.”

“The loud consultations are the right thing, it confirms that this is a House of debate and people can’t agree on everything. It is a matter that touches on Chapter 6 of the Constitution and the ethics and integrity act,” he said.

The Senator on Thursday tabled evidence of what he claimed was incriminating Wetang’ula’s conduct of reducing himself to be UDA’s agent.

But as Khalwale was putting up a case against Wetang’ula’s neutrality, the Speaker was in Kiambu where he was spreading the two-term gospel urging the residents of Kikuyu Constituency to vote for Ruto for a second term.

“You voted Ruto and made him the President. You have contributed to the formation of this government, you can’t give birth to child and then you throw her, let nobody lie to you that you are not in government,” Wetang’ula said in reference to Gachagua’s opposition politics in Mt Kenya against Ruto’s administration.

Despite claims of reducing himself to be Ruto’s appendage, Wetang’ula went to an extent of delivering greetings from the President as he asked the residents to vote for him for a ‘two-term’ a political sloganeering that has been coined to counter Gachagua’s Wantam (one-term) political clarion call.

Wetang’ula’s style of leadership has also been under sharp focus from his predecessors, current serving MPs, lawyers and political analysts who accuse of breaching the principles of impartiality and reducing the National Assembly as an extension of the Executive.

His predecessor, Justin Muturi, slammed Wetang’ula, accusing him of destroying the feasibility of impartiality of the Speaker maintaining that he should always keep his personal opinion.

“The Speaker remains neutral, he listens. If you start issuing your opinion publicly while serving as the Speaker there will be other members with divergent opinion and you will not sit well with them,’’ Muturi said.

 Even MPs serving under Wetang’ula in the National Assembly have expressed concerns over the Speaker’s conduct accusing him of having a cake and eating it.

Mukurweini MP Johhn Kaguchia claimed Wetang’ula has offended the Constitution by failing to drop the position of a party leader of Ford Kenya.

“His continued engagements in active politics is wrong. His role as the party leader and the Speaker is against the role and this has compromised his position as a neutral arbiter. It is unfortunate that the law no longer matters in this country.’’