This archive report was first published on 22 October 2019.
Published on October 22, 2019, a review of the 1,100-page Hansard proceedings of the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) on the Constitution in 2010 revealed the flip-flopping nature of Kenya's top leaders.
President Uhuru Kenyatta, his deputy William Ruto, and opposition leader Raila Odinga had differing views on the preferred system of government and devolution during the writing of the Constitution in 2010.
Uhuru and his allies backed the quest for a hybrid system of government, while Raila's ODM insisted on a pure parliamentary system. Dr. Ruto, then the Minister for Agriculture, advocated for a parliamentary system with a powerful prime minister and a ceremonial president.
However, in a speech at Chatham House, London, on February 9 this year, Deputy President Ruto vehemently denounced the idea of a prime minister's post, stating, 'The suggestion on the Prime Minister's post has two problems: it does not solve the problem, which is that we need a functional, constitutional official opposition; and if created, it would still be taken by the winning party.'
On September 8, 2019, Ruto accused Raila of pushing for constitutional changes to create positions to help him gain power, saying, 'We will not entertain politics of creating positions for a few individuals at the expense of delivering services and empowering Kenyans.… Those propagating this are power-hungry and selfish.'
Interestingly, Raila now insists the country should embrace the parliamentary system with a powerful premier, defending it as a better way to raise the majority threshold in a country where tribes view each other with suspicion in the race for power.
