The United Democratic Alliance (UDA) has dissociated itself from a proposal in the Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2024 seeking to extend the presidential term limit from five to seven years.
UDA Secretary General Omar Hassan termed the move retrogressive and primitive in a statment released Wednesday evening.
He condemned Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei, the sponsor of the Bill, saying it offends Kenya’s progressive posture.
Hassan characterised the Senator’s plan as “cynical, profoundly misguided and self-serving” adding it goes against Kenya’s democracy.
“Of grave concern is that this cynical, profoundly misguided and self-serving Bill contravenes a long-held aspiration of the people of Kenya to retire the undemocratic entrenchment of unaccountable political monopolies,” he stated.
“It seeks to deny the people regular opportunities to hold leadership to account and directly exercise sovereign power,” Hassan added.
The Secretary General said UDA party honors the legacy of Kenya’s struggle for constitutional change, which developed in a progressive, democratic, and inclusive constitutional dispensation.
“We have made impressive strides in consolidating our institutions, deepening our democracy, protecting our freedoms, and placing our economy on the sustainable path of inclusive prosperity,” the ruling party said in a statement endorsed by President William Ruto, its leader.
