President William Ruto, UDA has rejected a proposed Amendment Bill 2024 that was set to extend the term limit of elective officeholders. The Bill, sponsored by Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei, has divided the ruling party.
Through a strongly worded statement on Wednesday, UDA Secretary General Hassan Omar condemned the bill, terming it “profoundly misguided and self-serving.” Omar said the proposed amendment contravenes the long-held aspirations of the Kenyan people and undermines democratic principles.
“The Bill seeks to deny the people regular opportunities to hold leadership accountable and directly exercise sovereign power,” Omar said.
According to him, the Bill pursues “illegitimate, myopic, and retrogressive ends” rather than anything meaningful.
Omar promptly condemned the move, as he reiterated, “The party dissociates itself from this repulsive and reactionary bill.”
He called on all those members involved in the support or leading of the initiative to step back on the grounds that the Bill is “incompatible with our policy and aspirations.”
Omar further castigated the Bill’s orchestrators for making members playthings of “juvenile political experimentation” and as if the constitutional values had no meaning.
“They have failed to consider the duty of leadership to respect, uphold, and defend the constitution,” Omar said.
He affronted that Kenya’s political leadership should focus on the national project of fully actualizing the values and principles enshrined in the constitution.
UDA Secretary General went further to drum home the historic importance of the journey Kenya traveled towards the change of constitution: “UDA remembers the long struggle of the people of Kenya for constitutional change, which delivered us a liberal, progressive, democratic, and inclusive constitutional dispensation,” he added.
The amendment bill now proposes increasing the presidential term from the current five years to seven years as stipulated in Article 136 of the Constitution. Other elected officers, such as governors and Members of Parliament, would also serve under the same arrangement.
Besides that, the Bill creates the office of the Prime Minister, appointed by the President.
