National Assembly speaker, Moses Wetangula, and the leader of the majority, Kimani Ichung’wa, intervened to defend the Environment CS nominee, Soipan Tuya, who was nearly cornered by opposition members of parliament.
Azimio La Umoja lawmaker Robert Mbui on Wednesday, October 19, revisited an instance when Tuya ruled in favour of the 'ayes' while presiding over a Parliament sitting.
Mbui alleged that Soipan, who was acting as the speaker for the sitting, ruled in favour of the Jubilee Party in 2018 despite claims that the 'nays' - largely drawn from the defunct National Super Alliance (NASA) - were louder.
He invited the nominee to defend herself against the allegations arguing that the information about her biased ruling was in the public domain.
"The nominee while acting as speaker chairing a sitting of Parliament during the debate on the controversial tax laws; contained in the 2018 Finance Act deliberately and publicly ruled that the ayes had won the vote that was taken through acclamation while it was very clear that the nays had won,” Mbui recalled.
Ichungwah interjected, noting that Soipan's ruling had been contested and settled in a court of law and thus ruled out any justification needed.
He also raised a point of order to contest what he alleged was an attempt to tarnish the nominee's reputation.
"Soipan is being questioned on a matter of procedure in the house, and I think it is not lost on Honourable Mbui because, as I said yesterday it is not fair to play to the gallery and ask questions that want to portray her in a bad light.
"The public does not understand our Standing Orders," Ichung'wah argued.
Wetangula concurred with Ichungwah after explaining how the Standing Orders work and the speaker's role in moderating the debates.
"You may proceed to answer but you may not answer the question about how you ruled when you were on the chair," Wetangula stated.
"You know very well Robert (Mbui) even speakers hold quasi-judicial authority, no judge is frogged to answer how they made their judgement. You then appeal if you want," the Speaker added.
Soipan vowed to refrain from responding to the allegations in line with the speaker’s guidance.
"I will not delve into it as you have properly ruled. I am happy because the member says that he was in Parliament and I was completely within the ambit of Article 115 of the Constitution and the Standing Orders and I will not delve much into that," she stated.
