MP Antoney Kibagendi fights suspension from House

Kitutu Chache South MP Antoney Kibagendi is preparing for a legal battle to overturn his suspension from Parliament for questioning the independence of the House.

Kibagendi, through his lawyer Ombui Ratemo has argued that National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang’ula violated the Constitution and broke parliamentary rules and procedures to punish him for statements made outside the House.

“The Parliamentary Powers and Privileges Act does not take effect on any actions or utterances made outside the precincts of Parliament,” the MP's lawyer states.

In his demand for reinstatement dated February 19, 2026, the first-term legislator said the Standing Orders do not govern any affairs outside Parliament and ‘if at all you’d go fishing, Standing Order 1(2) provides that any decision made by the Speaker shall be based on the Constitution of Kenya, which you are since in breach of.’

“It is also clear that you did not pronounce yourself on what law or standing order you were relying on and/or relied on in reaching the said illegal determination,” the MP’s advocate argues.

The lawyer added, “Interesting to note is that Sarah Peres, while rising on a point of order to cast aspersions on our client, failed, either inadvertently or by design, to state on which Standing Order her Point of order was premised on. This is unprocedural and indeed foreign to House business operations,” the lawyer states.

Speaker Wetang’ula on Tuesday, February 17, announced the indefinite suspension of the ODM legislator over remarks the Speaker described as reckless. The decision followed comments Kibagendi made during an appearance on Citizen TV.

During the television interview, Kibagendi raised concerns about what he described as the state of Parliament’s independence.

He questioned whether the House leadership was sufficiently safeguarding the institution’s authority, suggesting that Parliament risked losing its autonomy.

“The far-reaching consequences of your impugned pronouncements in essence deny the good people of Kitutu Chache South constituency representation in the house, locking them out of having their interests articulated in the National Assembly for an indefinite period. Mr Speaker, where do you draw such powers from?” Ratemo posed.

The lawyer protested that his client was denied the right to a fair trial under Article 50 of the Constitution and the right to access justice under Article 48, while administrative procedures under Article 47 of the Constitution were not adhered to.

“While rendering yourself on this matter, you arbitrarily stated that you were NOT going to allow the Honourable Member to defend himself and proceeded to suspend him and in classic dictatorial fashion prescribe on how you wanted him to apologise and even further, directed that the office of the clerk to dictate the nature, manner and wording of the apology, a clear violation of Article 50 of the constitution which confers our client the right to a fair hearing and an affront to the spirit of the Constitution that you took oath to defend.”

The lawyer added, “We take the liberty to draw your attention to Article 47 on the Fairness of Administrative action. The Fair Administration Act is a product of the very house which trampled upon its provisions with emphasis on Section 4 of the Act. Instead of offering leadership, you joined in concert with other members of the House, calling for and justifying the illegal suspension of our client.”