Tuesday, October 29, 2024 – Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s ODM has distanced itself from the recent proposal to extend term limits for elected leaders, among them the president, to seven years.
Speaking during a courtesy visit
in Kisumu, ODM Secretary-General Edwin Sifuna maintained that ODM does not
support any attempts to extend term limits for President William Ruto and
other elected leaders.
“The position of the ODM party
is that we do not support any proposals to amend our Constitution to extend any
elected leader's term in office,” he asserted highlighting that the proposed
bill will erode Kenyans’ confidence in public institutions.
Sifuna made the remarks during a
courtesy call to the Luo Council of Elders Chairman, Ker Odungi Randa, at his
rural home in Nyando Sub-County.
According to Sifuna, the bill
sponsored by Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei is a waste of time and will not
receive any votes in the Senate.
Cherargei, who is the author of
the bill, argues that a 5-year term is inadequate for elected leaders to
fulfill their promises and that holding elections every 5 years is expensive.
The proposal seeks to extend the
term for elected leaders from 5 to 7 years meaning general elections will be
held after every 7 years instead of the current 5.
The bill was subjected to a
public participation exercise on Friday but was met with strong opposition from
Kenyans with more than 240,000 sending memoranda about the bill.
The proposal continues to
trigger mixed reactions from Kenyans and across the political divide, many
strongly opposed the bill, terming it unconstitutional.
The Kenyan DAILY POST
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