A section of members of the National Assembly have pledged to shoot down a bill seeking to extend the term limits of elected leaders if it sails through the Senate.
The lawmakers, numbering six, urged senators not to pass the bill, terming it retrogressive. The MPs mainly from UDA also distanced the ruling party from the legislative proposal.
Led by Gachugu MP Githinji Gichimu, they argued that Kenyans have serious and pressing needs, including cost of living and extension of term limits is least among them.
Others included Reuben Kiborek (Mogotio), Maisori Kitayama (Kuria East), Rindikiri Mugambi (Buuri), Jane Kagiri (Laikipia) and Julius Taitamu (Igembe North).
“We will bring it down and if it will sail through (the Senate) then Kenyans must bring it down in a referendum,” Githinji said.
Kiborek said UDA and, by extension Rift Valley region where President William Ruto hails from, does not support the proposed extension.
“Our party leader has pronounced himself that he does not support idea of supporting the term limits. The bill is a private member bill and should not be confused to mean that it has the blessings of the UDA party or the region where we are coming from,” he added.
Terming the bill dead on arrival, he pledged to mobilise colleagues in the National Assembly to vote against it. The leaders were speaking when they addressed a press conference at Parliament Buildings yesterday.
In the bill, Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei is seeking to review the president’s term upwards from the current five years to seven.
The proposal also seeks to extend the term limits of members of the National Assembly, senators, woman representatives, governors and MCAs.
Cherargei said the extension is necessary to allow elected leaders to deliver on development projects to the electorate.
The current five-year system, he said, is insufficient for leaders to deliver their manifestos. This is the second proposal attempting to alter the presidential term limit since Ruto took office in 2022.
The first attempt was by Fafi MP Farah Yakub who sought to scrap the term limit and instead replace it with an age limit of 75 years.
The
proposal failed.
The proposal to extend the term
of the president and other elected
leaders from five to seven years has
been met with outrage, with the majority terming the plan unreasonable.
