Azimio leader Raila Odinga on Monday accused President William Ruto of plotting to legally entrench the position of National Security Advisor outside the constitution.
In a statement, Raila claimed that the National Government Administration Laws Amendment Bill 2023, fronted by Kikuyu Member of Parliament Kimani Ichung'wah in November last year, was the President's way of usurping the constitution to shake up the national security architecture and appoint one of his allies to the position.
Former Defence and Energy Cabinet Secretary Monica Juma is the current National Security Advisor. However, the 2010 Constitution does not allow her to sit in National Security Council (NSC) meetings.
Only the President, the Deputy President, the Director General of the National Intelligence Service (NIS), the Chief of Defence Forces, the Attorney General and the Cabinet Secretaries responsible for Interior, Foreign Affairs and Defence are allowed to sit in the meetings.
As such, the former Prime Minister emphasised that the Bill goes against the Constitution which outlines the principles and members of the NSC.
In Raila's view, any new position being created by the Bill would be redundant and against the country's best interests.
"We can also foresee the occupant acting as a gatekeeper between the President and the other heads of the national security organs."
"The occupant of this office is just a personal aide to the President with no statutory defined roles, no reporting structure and no alignment to the bureaucracy," Raila stated.
According to Raila, the Bill seeks to ensure that the National Security Advisor becomes the Council's Secretary which goes against the norm where the secretary is appointed by Council members.
Raila therefore, expressed his vehement opposition holding that the roles envisioned by the Bill were not even outlined. He explained that the introduction of the position would interfere with the defence forces, intelligence community and the National Police Service (NPS) capacity to operate independently.
"Kenya Kwanza must drop this interference with the constitutional architecture concerning our national security. Azimio will fight this latest manoeuvre to take total control of the national security machinery," he reiterated.
In the proposed bill, a new sub-committee shall be introduced and will comprise of nine members.
