Azimio Fronts Kalonzo and Marende for Senate and National Assembly Speaker Posts

The Azimio La Umoja-One Kenya coalition has nominated Wiper party leader Kalonzo Musyoka for the Senate speaker seat and Kilifi Senator-elect Stewart Madzayo for the Senate Deputy speaker post.

The Raila Odinga-led coalition also settled on former National Assembly Speaker Kenneth Marende for the National Assembly Speaker slot and Dadaab MP-elect Farah Maalim for the National Assembly Deputy Speaker post.

The agreement was reached on Wednesday following the coalition’s parliamentary group meeting at Masai Lodge in Kajiado which was attended by President Kenyatta, Odinga, Martha Karua, and Musyoka, among other leaders.

Musyoka will face off with former Kilifi Governor Amason Kingi in the Senate Speaker race while Marende will go head-to-head with Bungoma Senator-elect Moses Wetang’ula in the Senate Speaker contest. Kingi and Wetang’ula are being fronted by President-elect William Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza Alliance.

The election for both speakers shall take place on Thursday once the newly elected MPs are sworn-in at the 13th Parliament's first sitting.

To clinch the National Assembly Speaker seat in the first round of voting, a candidate is required to garner at least 233 votes out of 349. If none achieves the threshold, the candidate who receives a simple majority in the second-round wins.

In the Senate Speaker race, a candidate must secure 45 votes from the 67 Senators to win in round one. If there will be no round one winner, the first two contestants will face off in a run-off that requires a simple majority to win.