Gatundu South MP, Moses Kuria, has responded to former Jubilee Party vice-chairman David Murathe who on Monday, December 30, claimed that President Uhuru Kenyatta could still retain power in a different capacity after the end of his presidential term in 2022.
Speaking to Kenyans.co.ke, Kuria insisted that Uhuru had no intention of vying for any political position and would rather follow in former President Mwai Kibaki's footsteps and retire come 2022 without endorsing any successor.
The vocal legislator further accused Murathe of speaking on behalf of "dark forces who have captured the state apparatus but not the president himself."
''As the MP for the president, I would know of such a scheme way ahead of retirees like Murathe. I genuinely believe that Uhuru Kenyatta is only interested in a better Kenya and not looking for a position for himself. I am certain the president will not want to suffer the ignominy of sacrificing his legacy at the altar of such transient goals," Kuria remarked.
He went on to claim that he was aware that Uhuru planned to not involve himself in the 2022 presidential campaigns just like Kibaki had left Kenyans guessing during the end of his second term in 2013.
"And I am even more certain the president will follow the footpaths of Kibaki and he will neither try to influence his own succession let alone campaign for anyone. Those parking their caravan trucks outside State House waiting for Uhuru Kenyatta to don campaign regalia are wasting their time. Uhuru Kenyatta is only looking forward to a stable , peaceful , prosperous Kenya and blissful retirement.''
Murathe had claimed that with the proposals under the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI), President Uhuru would be getting other avenues to remain politically influential.
"The only thing the President can’t do is to run for Presidency, but under the new political dispensation envisaged by the BBI team, we anticipate new political formations that will be all-encompassing and inclusive," he is quoted by the Daily Nation.
He further went to add, ''Nothing stops the President, as the leader of Jubilee, to head the government as the Executive Prime Minister as long as the party remains the largest in Kenya. Let them know and understand that the president will remain the party leader come rain or shine and, if they have plans to contest that, let them bring it on. The earlier, the better.''
According to Lawyer John Muriithi Waiganjo, the BBI report was not very clear on the governance structure and whether one could serve as a prime minister or deputy prime minister after being president.
Other leaders such as Martha Karua had previously advised the president against taking up the yet-to-be-created Prime Minister role, terming it unconstitutional citing the two-term limit set by the 2010 Constitution.
