Too young to retire: Politics of term limits keeps friends, foes on edge
President Dr William Ruto inspects a guard of honour during the Mashuja Day celebrations at Uhuru Gardens, Nairobi on October 20, 2022.
What you need to know:
- The clamour to have President Ruto overrule constitutional term limits and cling to power was revived in West Pokot.
- MP Pkosing and businessman Raval said the UDA leader should serve as Kenya’s President for over 25 years.
- In 2022 Fafi MP Salah Yakub intimated he will come up with a Bill to scrap the two-term presidential limit and instead set the age limit at 75.
The renewed calls for President William Ruto to rule for more than 10 years set in the Constitution has reignited the politics of term limits in the country.
The clamour to have President Ruto overrule constitutional term limits and cling to power was revived by Pokot South MP David Pkosing and business magnate Narendra Raval last week.
The two said the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) leader should serve as Kenya’s President for over 25 years.
The industrialist and philanthropist labelled Dr Ruto a passionate leader who loves Kenya and whom he cannot find the right words to thank.
“He loves this country so much that I do not have words to thank him. [May] God give him 100 years of life. I wish we have this President for at least 25 years; we will change this country,” Mr Raval said.
The 62-year-old steel and cement tycoon was speaking during the commissioning of the Cemtech Limited clinker plant in West Pokot County, where President Ruto was in attendance.
For his part, MP Pkosing, while speaking at the same event, echoed the sentiments of Mr Raval, saying they are even ready to change the Constitution to actualise the calls.
“Let us change the Constitution, what’s the problem?” posed the Kenya Union Party lawmaker.
The latest developments follow a similar call by Fafi MP Salah Yakub in 2022 where he intimated he will come up with a Bill to scrap the two-term presidential limit and instead set the age limit at 75.
The first term lawmaker argued that a presidential term should not be limited to only two terms, saying it denies performing leaders an opportunity to further develop the country.
“We will come up with an amendment Bill to try to change this because we want the requirement to be on age limit and not terms. If a president is doing a good job, then he or she should not be limited with the terms,” said MP Yakub then.
The current Constitution does not allow a holder of the Office of the President to serve for more than 10 years, either continuously or on a comeback basis.
A two-term limit came into effect ahead of the 1992 elections following the repeal of Section 2A of the old Constitution which made Kenya a multi-party state.
The change enabled the introduction of term limits to the presidency which saw President Daniel arap Moi serve his two terms up to 2002.
The 2010 Constitution also maintained the presidential term limits where according to Article 142 of the Constitution, the President shall hold office for a term beginning on the date on which the President was sworn in, and ending when the person next elected President.
Section b of the Article states that a person shall not hold office as President for more than two terms.
Yesterday, Mr Pkosing told the Nation that with the model of Kenyan politics, 10 years is too short to make any meaningful change.
He said the first term is often spent on putting up governance structures with proper work only starting in the second term where the President is also a lame duck leader.
The lawmaker said Kenya cannot be compared to developed nations where presidents come in and find working structures.
“I worked with President Uhuru Kenyatta and I can tell you that 10 years is too little to make any change. When Uhuru started working in the second term, time was catching up with him,” he said.
The MP said that the country’s model of politics does not give a President time to hit the ground running once they are elected into office.
“Two years are almost gone since Ruto came to office and there is nothing that has been done. He is still building structures. In his second term, if he gets it, he’ll be lame duck,” he said.
“The 25 years is a proposal because there is a problem. When you elect a President to come and fix things, then 25 years is the way to go. We must review our model of politics,” he added.
Kisii Senator Richard Onyonka said he is amused by such talk. He said in politics, leaders will want some individuals to drop “taboo” subjects deliberately to test waters.
Nonetheless, he said the issue of two terms in Kenya is sacrosanct and Kenyans are very sensitive about dictatorship.
“I hope that the President will not be convinced by people with dictatorial tendencies to lie to him that Kenyans will accept such plans peacefully. Kenyans are very sensitive about dictatorship. Two terms are enough for a President who wants to do miracles. You don’t need more than 10 years for someone to remain in power to accomplish their plans,” said Mr Onyonka.
Embakasi East MP Babu Owino said such talk is fuelled by greed and entitlement, saying the Constitution is clear that a President can only serve for 10 years.
“What you cannot do in 10 years, you cannot do in 25 years. Let him finish and give a chance to other people. After all, we want Kenya to go the Senegal way. You talk of retiring while too young, why can’t they wait and vie when they are old?” posed Mr Owino.
“There is generational change and someone of Ruto’s age is already old enough. That is what we call greed and entitlement. We will not allow such. As they are planning 25 years, we are planning for them in the next election,” he added.
However, Murang’a Senator Joe Nyutu laughed off the views, saying the President has not expressed any interest in continuing to be in office beyond two terms. He said Kenya Kwanza have no such plans.
“Those are personal views. There was a time when (Francis) Atwoli said that Uhuru is too young to retire and everybody thought Uhuru had plans to continue. We later found out that Atwoli was just excited and it is the same thing with Narendra and Pkosing,” said Mr Nyutu.
Nonetheless, such clamours are not new in the country with some former presidents entertaining the thoughts of extending their rules beyond the constitutional limits.
The late President Daniel Arap Moi ruled the country for 24 years after managing to stifle calls for imposition of presidential term limits.
Through the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Act of 1982, Mr Moi introduced Section 2A to the Constitution, which converted Kenya into a one-party State.
The move was calculated to frustrate Ford Kenya leader Oginga Odinga, Moi’s archrival at the time, and also drive radical politicians out of competitive politics.
It took until 1991 and fierce political agitation for another amendment of the Constitution to have the section repealed, thereby making Kenya a multi-party State. Mr Moi then ruled for two terms before relinquishing power in 2002.
As recently as 2017, the Central Organisation of Trade Unions (Cotu) Secretary-General Francis Atwoli stirred the hornet’s nest by calling for a review of the Constitution to create a role for then President Kenyatta. The Cotu boss argued that Mr Kenyatta was too young to retire, and “if we let him go without any substantive role in government, he would cause problems”.
Unlike former presidents Moi and Mwai Kibaki who retired at advanced ages, 78 and 82, respectively, Mr Kenyatta completed his second term in 2022 at what many consider as the prime of his political career.
Mr Atwoli said Mr Kenyatta was going to be the first President to exit office while still young and had to be accommodated. In 2019, he revived the calls, saying Mr Kenyatta should be elected into office as a powerful prime minister in 2022.
“I said sometime back this country needs a constitutional amendment because those in leadership are still young to retire and a new law will also accommodate them in leadership,” Mr Atwoli said.
On November 16, 2019, Mr Kenyatta told members of the Mt Kenya political caucus at a meeting in Sagana State Lodge that he would not mind a PM’s position if it was handed to him.
“I don’t know the contents of the BBI report yet I hear people claiming Uhuru Kenyatta wants to become the prime minister. I wouldn’t mind being in leadership in such a post, though let us deal with the current situation first,” he said.
Taking the cue, the Cotu boss said with the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI), should it pass, Mr Kenyatta would make a comeback and rule for more years akin to Moi post-1991.
“In 1992, after we changed the constitution, Moi ruled for 10 more years. After the BBI, Kenyatta can say that he wants to be President as it will be a new outfit and new constitutional terms. The BBI will succeed,” he said.
In November 2020, he maintained Mr Kenyatta was still young and capable of serving the country.
“Unless the President feels he has done enough, he is tired and wants to go home and rest, nothing stops him from vying again in 2022 after passing these amendments,” said Mr Atwoli.
