Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna on Thursday revealed that he will not attend President William Ruto’s State of the Nation Address at Parliament Buildings.
The Secretary General of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), while revealing his reasons for not attending the event, remarked that the main reason was because he would be able to adhere to Parliamentary rules governing such high-profile occasions.
According to Parliament Standing orders, legislators must maintain total silence when the Head of State is addressing the nation.
“Ruto cannot be trusted to paint the true picture of the State of the Nation which as you know is dire,” Sifuna explained in a statement.
The Senator maintained that he would find it increasingly difficult to listen to Ruto’s assessment of his first year in power.
“For these reasons and out of respect for the institution of Parliament I shall not attend the State of the Nation address,” he remarked.
The State of the Nation Address is a provision of Article 132 of the Kenyan Constitution.
“Once every year, a report, in an address to the nation, on all the measures taken and the progress achieved in the realisation of the national values,” the Article reads in part.
The Address is made before a joint Parliamentary sitting of both the National Assembly and the Senate.
Subsequently, the State House will publish in the Kenya Gazette details of the measures and progress of issues raised before the joint Parliamentary sitting.
Apart from detailing his achievements, the Article further mandates the President once a year to submit a report for debate to the National Assembly on the progress made in fulfilling the international obligations of the Republic.
Ruto is expected to speak of education reforms made under his tenure including employing tutors and changing of university funding model.
The President is also expected to speak on the reforms in the health sector with a special interest in Universal Health Care.
