President William Ruto's party UDA has distanced itself from a proposal by Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei to have the presidential term limit extended to two seven-year terms.
In a statement on Monday, secretary general Cleophas Malala said the proposal by the senator is not the position of the party or that of the President.
He said Ruto swore to abide by and protect the Constitution, which spells out the presidential term limit.
"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, President William Ruto," he said.
"The President solemnly swore to respect and uphold and defend the constitution which is abundantly clear and categorical on the Presidential term limit."
Malala said the ruling party's focus is to deliver on promises they made to Kenyans during campaigns.
He said they will soon give their scorecard for Kenyans to evaluate guided by the timelines for the next election cycle.
"Respectfully, therefore, the term limit debate is superfluous and peripheral," he said.
Senator Cherargei has in a memorandum submitted to the National Dialogue Committee at Bomas of Kenya on Friday proposed the extension of the presidential term limit from the current five to seven years.
The proposal has caused an uproar, with many opposed to it.
According to Senator Cherargei, five years in office is not sufficient for the running of government.
“Increase the presidential term to seven years: Whereas the current Constitution provides for a two-term presidential term limit comprising ten years there is a need to increase the same to two terms of seven years each, ” Cherargei told the dialogue committee.
The short period between elections, he said, has been responsible for hot contests that sometimes generate into chaos.
“Besides, the Kenyan presidential election is always highly profiled as a result of it being conducted within a short period, thus making it a do-or-die adventure,” Cherargei argued.
