Members of Parliament allied to Deputy President William Ruto are now discouraging him from actively pursuing the presidency over the introduction of the prime minister's post.
Speaking in Nandi County on Sunday, January 5, the North Rift leaders vowed to ensure that the DP occupies the most powerful office on the land even if it will be the prime minister's position.
According to a report by Citizen TV, Tinderet MP Julius Melly told a crowd that Ruto was better off seeking the PM post if it will be made most powerful by the proposed Building Bridges Initiative (BBI)
"We have decided that if the BBI will seek a referendum, and because we know the executive powers and if we shall have a powerful prime minister's position, we shall want him to contest for that," stated the leader.
The event was also attended by other leaders from the region who are rooting for Ruto to occupy the most powerful office on the land.
This comes ahead of a joint meeting of President Uhuru Kenyatta and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga in Western on Saturday, January 18, 2020, to popularise the BBI report.
The report, which was handed over to President Uhuru Kenyatta in November 2019, outlined that the president would share power with a prime minister.
The report, however, detailed that the head of state would still be powerful and would even fire the prime minister.
In the BBI report, the president remains the Head of State and Government and Commander-in-Chief, while the PM will draw his powers from parliament and supervises the execution of government duties.
In an outburst on Thursday, January 2, Kandara MP Alice Wahome branded Uhuru as an existential threat to the economy and asked him to deny claims that he was gearing up to remain in power after 2022.
"The assumption that the president should continue ruling after his term because he is young is an abuse to the intelligence of the people of Kenya.
"The president should respond to some of those making the claims because they are coming from people who are closely related to him," she stated.
