Thursday, December 8, 2022 – The push by President William Ruto to grant former Prime Minister Raila Odinga some powers by creating the office of the official Opposition Leader may never see the light of day.
This is according to High Court advocate Duncan Okatch, who alleged that Ruto’s move was likely to collapse following the Supreme Court’s ruling on the amendment of the Constitution.
Speaking during an interview, Okatch argued that the proposed bill is indicative of being sponsored by the president, and to a large extent, the Supreme Court declared that the president cannot initiate or sponsor a constitutional change.
“This bill is akin to being sponsored by the President. They have to decide If it is supposed to be a parliamentary or popular initiative, but in terms of the president’s involvement, it will land them back to court on who is spearheading the process,” he revealed.
Similar sentiments were echoed by Homa Bay Senator Moses Kajwang, who termed the creation of the office unconstitutional.
“You cannot do it within the framework of the current Constitution without amendments and that requires the country to go to a referendum,” Kajwang’ explained.
He further trolled Kenya Kwanza for rejecting the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI), yet it was hell-bent on amending the Constitution.
“The people gave us the power to demonstrate and made us the official opposition. These changes Kenya Kwanza is seeking can only be granted by the people and not via Parliament,” the Senator argued.
In March 2022, the Supreme Court blocked changes to the Constitution initiated by former President Uhuru Kenyatta. Six of the seven judges ruled constitutional amendments must come from the ordinary citizens, not the President.
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