The United Democratic Alliance party has distanced itself from a proposal by Senator Samson Cherargei to extend presidential term limits, calling it irrelevant.
Cherargei submitted a memorandum to the National Dialogue Committee last week Friday that included several recommendations, most notably increasing the presidential term from five to seven years. But UDA Secretary General Cleophas Malala dismissed the idea in a statement, saying it contradicts the party’s principles.
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“The UDA Party respects and upholds the Senator’s personal views but particularly on the referenced subject, those views do not reflect the perspectives of the UDA Party and/or its Party Leader, H.E. the President, William Ruto,” Malala said. “The President solemnly swore to respect, uphold and defend the Constitution which is abundantly clear and categorical on the Presidential term limit.”
Ruto was elected in August to a five-year term as president. The constitution limits presidents to two terms.
Cherargei’s memorandum contained several other proposals, including bringing back the prime minister position, creating an official opposition leader role, requiring parties to reserve 30% of nominations for youth, women and people with disabilities, and increasing the Senate’s powers.
But Malala said the ruling party is currently focused on delivering on promises made during the campaign that propelled Ruto to power.
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“The Ruling Party is presently focused on delivering on its promises to the People of Kenya, mindful that it shall in due course submit its scorecard for the people to evaluate,” he said.
Malala added that the party is following its published timeline of activities leading up to the next general election.
“This is why, for the past few months, the UDA party has published a timeline portal for all its electoral activities on https://timeline.uda.ke/,” he said. “Respectfully therefore, the term limit debate is superfluous and peripheral.”
The statement comes as Ruto tries to consolidate power after a narrow election victory over longtime opposition leader Raila Odinga. Extending term limits could give Ruto more time to implement his agenda, but also opens him up to criticism that he aims to concentrate authority in the executive branch.
