Parliament Dismisses Petition To Censure Speaker Wetang’ula

The National Assembly has rejected a petition seeking to censure Speaker Moses Wetang’ula.

The petition, submitted by the Grassroot Oversight Initiative, aimed to initiate a motion against Wetang’ula, but the attempt was dismissed due to procedural constraints under parliamentary rules.

In a letter dated February 7, 2025, Clerk of the National Assembly, Samuel Njoroge, informed the petitioners that the House’s rules do not permit discussions on the Speaker’s conduct unless a formal motion is introduced by a sitting Member of Parliament.

“We have perused the Constitution, the Petition to Parliament (Procedure) Act, 2012, and the National Assembly Standing Orders and note that Standing Order 87(1) provides that the conduct of the Speaker can only be discussed through a substantive motion with at least three days’ notice,” the letter stated.

The letter further explained that only an MP directly aggrieved by the Speaker’s actions has the authority to introduce such a motion, making the Grassroot Oversight Initiative’s petition inadmissible. This decision effectively puts an end to the group’s effort to challenge Wetang’ula’s leadership through external petitions.

The rejection highlights the procedural safeguards that protect the Speaker from direct censure by the public and reinforces the requirement that only MPs can initiate such motions within the House.

The Grassroot Oversight Initiative has not yet commented on the National Assembly’s decision.