Kenya’s Member of Parliament (MP) representing Ugenya, David Ochieng has outrightly dismissed a proposal tendered by Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei suggesting the amendment of the current five-year presidential term to seven.
The MP who was speaking during a local television appearance on Monday, said Senator Cherargei’s proposal was dead on arrival, adding that there was no way the constitution could be amended based on such an impractical suggestion.
“This one is dead on arrival, we will not entertain it. It doesn’t matter whether I am in Kenya Kwanza or Azimio. The person thinking about this kind of thing is living in the past, the very dark past of this country,” he said.
The Ugenya lawmaker urged government officials to think of better things to move the country forward, instead of making lazy suggestions with zero substance.
David Ochieng’s reaction comes two days after Senator Samson Cheragei presented a proposal to the National Dialogue Committee (NDC), seeking the amendment of the country’s Constitution.
Cheragei in the proposal, suggested a generous extension of Kenya’s current five-year presidential term limit to seven years before another election is conducted.
The memorandum was met with mixed reactions, with some in support and others against it. Kenya’s opposition leaders and analysts in the country have criticised the move, saying it is devoid of good judgement.
Other lawmakers have also kicked against the proposal, while others have implied that it could be secretly fuelled by Kenya’s current President William Ruto, who may be testing the waters to see how the public would react to the possibility of a tenure extension.
“This is just a trial balloon and the tip of the iceberg. Their ultimate goal is to abolish presidential term limits. But they will not succeed. They will meet the full resistance of Kenyans,” Mr Opiyo Wandayi, Uganja’s MP said.
Meanwhile, some Kenyans have shared their support for the Nandi Senator’s proposal, arguing that a longer term will be instrumental to the effective implementation of an administration’s development agenda.
The current Constitution of Kenya stipulates a five-year presidential term and not more than two terms in office by any administration.