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President-elect William Ruto yesterday revealed the reason behind his consolidation of numbers in the National Assembly and the Senate, even as it became clear that Bungoma Senator Moses Wetang'ula is set to become the next speaker.
Ruto said his strength of numbers in both the Senate and National Assembly will enable his Kenya Kwanza Alliance to pass crucial legislation to allow him to achieve some of the promises made during campaigns.
At the same time, the Kenya Kwanza team revealed that they have unanimously settled on Bungoma Senator-elect Moses Wetang'ula for the National Assembly speaker.
The latest entry into the Kenya Kwanza coalition is United Democratic Movement under the leadership of Mandera Governor Ali Roba, who is also senator-elect.
The party also dismissed reports that it had an existing agreement with the Azimio wing, challenging those making the allegations to table the agreement if one existed.
"Kenya Kwanza has grown over time and many members have joined. Today, UDM will become an equal member of this alliance," said Ruto.
"You will participate with us in Parliament, in governance in the Executive and in every aspect as we seek to consolidate development gains in our country," he said.
Ruto also took time to explain why his coalition was eyeing additional numbers before both Houses embark on business once members are sworn in. "We have a huge responsibility ahead of us and we need a lot of policy decisions and legislative interventions to be made, thus the need to build a team that will help us deliver on the mandate given to us by Kenyans," he said.
He added: "I am beginning to hear many Kenyans asking when the 'Hustler' fund is going to be rolled out so that they can go back to the business".
So far, Kenya Kwanza has majority members in both the houses.
They comprise UDA (139), ANC (7), Ford Kenya (6), UDM (7), TSP (1), and Maendeleo Chap Chap (2). PAA has 3, CCM (1), NAP Kenya (1), DP (1) and GDPP (1), taking the total to 170 legislators.
"Also note that we have 12 members who were elected on Independent tickets who have confirmed that they will work with Kenya Kwanza, meaning that we have 180 members," said ANC leader Musalia Mudavadi.
