Deputy President William Ruto has dropped his opposition to creating an expanded Executive as proposed under the revised Building Bridges Initiative Report.
“The DP is okay with what will be unveiled. It is his wish to manage this country with like-minded leaders” Keiyo South MP Daniel Rono told journalists on June 30.
The creation of more positions provides the DP with better chips to negotiate ways of collaborating with other leaders which he will use to strengthen is presidential bid.
“The DP is likely to benefit from an expanded Executive because he will be in a position to reach out to more leaders to build a coalition together and share responsibilities bolstering his State House bid,” Kimilili MP Didmus Barasa explained.
Ruto has been courting ANC leader Musalia Mudavadi and Bungoma Senator Moses Wetangula.
Following a meeting of their aides at DP Ruto’s Karen home on Friday, June 12, the three leaders created a technical team to flesh out details of the deal.
“We assembled here as leaders from Western Kenya. We will particularly focus on the unfolding character of governance & of the political economy in the country and its implications for everybody,” Mudavadi addressed a press conference after a meeting at his residence in Nairobi on the same day.
DP’s allies have also welcomed the proposal to create the position of a prime minister through parliament, instead of an executive PM which would require a referendum.
“If we need a hybrid system where the PM is voted by legislators, that can be done even now. The majority leader’s position can be changed to PM rather than taking Kenyans through a referendum,” Jubilee Party Deputy Secretary-General Caleb Kositany stated.
Meanwhile, President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM leaders have assembled the team which is expected to give the BBI report a smooth sail in Parliament.
The reconstitution of the house leadership to accommodate loyal supporters of the head of state will provide a good environment for the report’s adoption.
As BBI Chairman Yusuf Haji’s taskforce handles the mantle to handshake duo and Parliament, all eyes will be on Majority Leader Amos Kimunya (National Assembly), Samuel Poghisio (Senate) and Speakers Justin Muturi (National Assembly) and Ken Lusaka (Senate).
