What Marende's ruling means for Kenya coalition

• Marende temporarily took over the chairmanship of the committee which determines the agenda for parliamentary proceedings.
• PNU Coalition to seek interpretation of the dispute by the Constitutional court.
• Kalonzo says Speaker’s ruling has “set a bad precedent” while Raila hails pronouncement.

National Assembly Speaker Kenneth Marende on Tuesday threw the controversy over who should lead the powerful House Business Committee back to President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga.

But he also delivered a ruling that asserted the National Accord, which ended the post-election violence early last year, and attacked the powers of the President to make public appointments unilaterally.

Mr Marende temporarily took over the chairmanship of the committee which determines the agenda for parliamentary proceedings, but said he would relinquish the post when the President and PM finally agree on who should be Leader of Government Business.

Ended stalemate

In doing so, Mr Marende ended the stalemate which had stalled business in the House after Mr Odinga and Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka both claimed the right to be Leader of Government Business.

“Honourable Members, with profound respect, and much regret, I therefore rule that the Speaker will await the name of one minister consensually designated by the government as the Leader of Government Business,” Mr Marende said.

He added: “I have taken these extraordinary measures in the firm belief that the extraordinary situation in which this House, and by extension, this country finds itself in, calls for them. In so doing, I have been guided by what I believe to be in the best interests of this House and our nation.”

President Kibaki had followed tradition and written to Mr Marende nominating Mr Musyoka both as Leader of Government Business and chairman of the House Business Committee. But Mr Odinga had written another letter naming himself to the post by virtue of being coordinator and supervisor of government functions.

The wrangling had stalled proceedings in the House for a week because there was no committee to set the agenda for Parliament. Three Cabinet meetings were also cancelled because of the wrangles.

Reacting to Tuesday’s ruling, Mr Musyoka said the PNU Coalition would seek interpretation of the dispute by the Constitutional court. Mr Odinga welcomed the pronouncement and said the two principals should not wait for the Speaker to tell them what they should do.

Mr Marende gave the examples of the German, Tanzanian, Ugandan, Indian and New Zealand parliaments as some of the countries where the Speaker chairs the House Business Committee.
He regretted that his attempts to meet President Kibaki and Mr Odinga to resolve the matter had been unsuccessful.

In a 62-minute ruling that was widely hailed by MPs as a wise decision, Mr Marende unlocked the one-week deadlock that had paralysed Parliament’s business and threatened the government’s stability.

The Speaker threw a wild card, surprising the MPs when he declared himself the chairman of the House Business Committee, pending the nomination of a bona fide chair by the government. But Mr Musyoka who has been Leader of Government Business since 10th Parliament was inaugurated more than a year ago, dismissed the ruling as “an assault on the Presidency”.

“The consultation called for was false, since the President has the power to appoint the Leader of Government Business,” he said.

Mr Musyoka said PNU would move to court to get an interpretation of the relationship between the National Accord and the Constitution.