The High Court has cancelled the National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi’s directive to bar Ugunja Member of Parliament Opiyo Wandayi from attending Parliament sessions till the end of his term.
Justice George Odunga dismissed claims that the doctrine of separation of powers could not allow the legislator to seek redress of the matter in the corridors of justice.
“Accordingly, I stay the decision of the Speaker of the National Assembly on March 31 which suspended Mr Wandayi from attending Parliament sessions till the end of his term in office,” Odunga said.
After the ruling, Homa Bay Member of Parliament Peter Kaluma said he would withdraw his Bill which intends to give MPs immunity from prosecutions for any decisions they make during their tenure.
The Bill also aims at blocking the judiciary from interfering with matters pending in parliamentary and county assemblies.
“As someone who had brought a Bill, which I know is before the Senate, to limit the Judiciary from interfering in some matters, let me say that I am going to withdraw it since I have discovered the courts can be trusted in their jurisprudence,” he said.
Mr Wandayi, who was ejected from Parliament after he persistently blew his whistle during President Uhuru Kenyatta’s State of the Nation address on March 31, 2016, had sued Mr Muturi and the National Assembly.
He was sent on suspension after he declined to leave the House when ordered to.
The case will be mentioned on August 1, 2016.