Budalangi Member of Parliament (MP), Raphael Wanjala, on Tuesday, November 8, hinted at Azimio La Umoja amending the Constitution to introduce a rotational presidency.
While speaking in an interview with TV47, Wanjala claimed that the party, led by former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, wants every community to produce a president.
“We are really thinking on why two communities have been ruling the county for 60 years.
"We as Azimio are thinking of bringing an amendment to the Constitution to have a rotational presidency,” he alluded.
The rotational presidency, he explained, would bring create equality and allow Kenyans to participate in elections without any form of discrimination.
It would also open up the democratic space by eliminating tribal alliances that reportedly led the majority uniting in a political model political analysts termed tyranny of numbers.
Former President Uhuru Kenyatta, while agreeing to the handshake with Raila, envisioned a united Kenya with a rotational presidency.
Uhuru then pledged against supporting his then-deputy William Ruto as he sought to pave the way for another community to rule.
“I can stand here and say that only two Kenyan communities have led. Maybe it's time for others to lead. Kenya has many communities,” Uhuru stated while addressing mourners at the burial of Hannah Mudavadi in January 2021.
Raila supported the move, too, arguing that despite the issue of the rotational presidency being sensitive in Kenya, its practice was exercised in other nations.
"We must be differentiated based on ideology, not ethnicity. No one chose to be in the tribe they are in, that was a biological accident," he posed.
Azimio’s plan to amend the Constitution came hours after a United Democratic Alliance party (UDA) MP, Salah Yakub (Fafi), proposed extending Ruto's term limit to 20 years.
The MP wants the two term of five years presidential limit scrapped off and replaced with an age cap of 75 years. If successful, 55-year-old Ruto would lead the nation till 2042.
UDA, however, distanced itself from the plan, terming it baseless and ill-advised. Ruto has not yet spoken on the MP's proposal.
