mzalendo :: Eye On Kenyan Parliament

By Mzalendo REPORTER

January 15, 2008, which was the first day of the first session of the 10th Parliament. ODM’s candidate Mr. Kenneth Otiato Marende, 52, was pronounced Speaker in a theatric session that lasted for more than seven hours. ODM’s Mr. Farah Maalim also won the Deputy Speaker’s seat handing the opposition double victory against the government’s side controlled by President Mwai Kibaki.

Former speaker Mr. Francis ole Kaparo was backed by President Kibaki and his Party of National Unity MPs and their colleagues in affiliate parties. Marende, however, beat Kaparo garnering 105 votes against Mr. Kaparo’s 101, during the three rounds race.
In the first round Marende won after garnering 103 votes, Kaparo 99 votes while former Kibwezi MP Kalembe Ndile had 2. The only female candidate Njoki Ndungu had 0 votes, just like former Nyeri MP Wanyiri Kihoro. In the second round, Marende managed to get 104 votes to Kaparo’s 102. Wanyiri Kihoro this time round managed a single vote. Voting then moved to the third stage which requires a simple majority win.
For a candidate to win in the first round of voting, he or she must garner two-thirds majority or 148 MPs of the entire composition of Parliament. But if no candidate qualifies at this stage, the process enters the second round but here only two candidates are voted for. These are two candidates who would have garnered most of the votes during round one. For one to be declared winner in round two, he or she must garner two-thirds majority or 148 MPs of the entire composition of Parliament-just like in round one.
If no candidate qualifies at this stage, the process enters the third round and the candidate who gets a simple majority is declared the Speaker of National Assembly.

The whole session, which started at 2.30 pm and lasted till past midnight was characterised by angry exchanges between members of the opposition and those from the government‘s side. As the session was about to start, the Opposition side wildly cheered and rose in honour of its leader Raila Odinga as he entered the chambers accompanied by Pentagon member, Mr. Najib Balala. Raila has insisted he won the December 27 general election. Opposition MPs had originally planned to sit on government benches but they did not live to their threat. Raila took the seat reserved for the leader of the opposition.
His followers, some sporting orange handkerchiefs in their breast pockets, declined to stand up as President Kibaki entered the chamber – sending a clear message to him that they do not regard his election as valid. Only the Government side rose for Kibaki, as he walked towards the seat reserved for the Head of State-a couple of steps from where Raila was occupying the official opposition seat.

The election of Speaker was first thrown into disarray after ODM objected to the secret ballot system saying it provided the government’s side with an opportunity to rig.
Ugenya MP, Mr. James Orengo fired the first salvo and challenged the Clerk of National Assembly Samuel Ndindiri that the Standing Orders do not restrict members to voting by secret ballot as he had prescribed. But the government’s side remained firm arguing that secret ballot was the legal way of electing a speaker and that it has been the practice is all Parliaments across the word under Commonwealth.Mr. Ndindiri, who was conducting the whole process, had a rough time in controlling the MPs. President Kibaki on his part watched in disbelief. Those who also took the floor from the ODM side objecting to the secret ballot method included Eldoret North MP William Ruto, Prof Anyang Nyongo (Kisumu Rural) and William Ole Ntimama (Narok North). “We went through (national) elections with a secret ballot, and you stole the vote,” Ruto said insisting that the vote for the Speaker could be rigged too in a secret ballot.

Attorney General Amos Wako, Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka, Justice and constitutional affairs minister Martha Karua and Mbooni MP Mutula Kilonzo on the other side defended the secret ballot system calling on the clerk not to allow being “coaxed” by the opposition. “We hope and we expect that eventually everybody will come to their senses, realise that we’ve got to learn to live with each other,” Karua said as she pushed for secret ballot. “The Speaker has to be fair. Standing Orders mention no secret ballot but it has been a tradition that the House has always followed,” said Mr. Wako.

Mukurweini MP Mr. Kabando wa Kabando (Safina) caused a stir when he claimed that some ODM MPs had been threatened by Mr. Ruto that violence would be unleashed against them if they supported the government’s side. He claimed that ODM was rejecting the secret ballot system so that it can monitor who amongst its members side with the government. The secret ballot however carried the day leading to Marende’s election as Speaker and Maalim as the deputy.

Even after voting and electing speaker and his deputy, there was yet another hurdle for the House. ODM wanted the Speaker to rule in their favour that they should not take an oath swearing their allegiance to the President. The speaker however ruled that as per Standing Orders, an MP has to swear allegiance to the President. Some ODM MPs including Ababu Namwamba (ODM-Budalangi) however still objected. Raila and Nyongo are among the ODM MPs who declined to swear allegiance to the President instead swearing to the Republic of Kenya.