NAIROBI, Kenya, May 3 – National Assembly Majority and Minority leaders Kimani Ichungwah and Opiyo Wandayi are expected to give their views on a petition seeking to introduce the offices of the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, and the Official Leader of the Opposition.
The petition filed by Victor Okul proposes the amendment of the Constitution to introduce the offices on the grounds that the current “winner takes it all” system is regressive.
“The petitioner is convinced that what he terms a “Winner takes it all” system is regressive, particularly in light of the fact that the Office of Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, and Leader of Opposition were part of the changes various Kenyans had proposed to the draft constitution,” a communication from the office of the Speaker read in part.
Okul claims the current system is to blame for the divisive presidential elections that have been witnessed in the country since the promulgation of the 2010 Constitution.
He observes that various initiatives and public discourse to introduce the said offices through the mechanisms provided under Article 257 of the constitution have been unsuccessful.
The Public Petitions Committee which Kitui East MP Nimrod Mbai chairs is expected to table its report before the House for debate and further action.
Notably, the proposals were part of the recommendations in the failed Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2020, which the Supreme Court declared unconstitutional in March last year.
BBI sought, among others, to expand the Executive and introduce the office of the Prime Minister and two deputies as part of what the former President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM leader Raila Odinga termed as efforts to solve historical injustices bedeviling the country.
