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Court declines to halt orders to replace Chege as Deputy Minority Whip

Friday, May 26th, 2023 01:20 | By
Sabina Chege to Ruto: We are orphans, welcome us when we knock on your door
Nominated Member of Parliament Sabina Chege. PHOTO/Courtesy

The High Court yesterday declined to stop an order to stop the de-whipping and replacement of Nominated MP Sabina Chege as the Deputy Minority Whip of the National Assembly.

Justice Mugure Thande declined to issue the order and instead directed the petition filed by the legislator to be served to all parties and the matter be mentioned on June 22.

Sabina wanted the court to issue a temporary order pending the hearing and determination of her application.

Through lawyer Felix Keaton, she sued the National Assembly, its Speaker, its Clerk and the Attorney General.

She notes that on April 13, 2023, the Speaker of the National Assembly issued communication notifying the House that he had received a letter from Azimio Coalition through the Leader of Minority Party de-whipping her as the Deputy Minority Whip.

The Speaker made a decision on the issue and gave guidance to the effect that the Communication received from the Minority Party regarding her de-whipping was incomplete and did not comply with the requirement of Standing Order 20A of the National Assembly Standing Orders.

The Speaker granted the Azimio Coalition a period of 30 days within which to convey the appropriate communication and the replacement of its Deputy Minority Whip.

Impugned decision

Sabina in her suit papers now challenges the decision by Azimio coalition purporting to de-whip her saying she was not accorded fair administrative action. “The Procedure leading to my de-whipping was flawed as I was never heard before the impugned decision which was sanitised by the National Assembly,” she claimed in court documents.

She argues that members of the Jubilee Party were not issued with any notice for the Coalition’s Parliamentary Group Meeting and therefore the Coalition did not meet the threshold laid down under Standing Order No. 20. “No sufficient reasons were given to the Coalition Parliamentary Group to consider my removal. In any event, even if there was any justification to remove me, my right to be heard cannot be disregarded,” she argued. She contends that the Parliamentary Group Meeting lacked fair representation of all the Coalition Parties and in particular, Jubilee Party whose members were not invited to the meeting.

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