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Siaya Governor James Orengo has hit out at President William Ruto following his letter to the Parliament on Constitutional amendment.
Orengo said the decision needed the inclusion of the public and not just the National Assembly.
“Constitution is a major document. You must involve the people first. That is why you saw during the BBI process, there’s a team that went all over the country,” he said on Sunday.
He reiterated that Kenyans needed to weigh in on the proposals first before the Parliament did.
Orengo said the House was not the right body for the amendment.
“It must go to the people. For the people to decide before it is taken to Parliament,” he said.
The governor chided Ruto for opposing the Building Bridges Initiative, yet his proposals are made up of the same proposals as the document.
“Ruto is saying that for the position of the leader of the opposition, all he needs to do is write to Parliament. But we had that office created under BBI. At that time, he said no. He should tell us why he was opposed when that provision was in the BBI document,” Orengo said.
He added that the issue of gender was already in the Constitution and should not be an issue of concern.
In a letter to the House on Friday, Ruto listed various amendments to the Constitution, to enrich Kenya’s democratic experience.
“Broadly, the matters in which I seek these purposive interventions are implementation of the two-thirds gender rule, Constituency Development, Senate Oversight and National Government Affirmative Action Funds, the position of the leader of the official opposition and Parliamentary oversight of the executive,” the letter read.
Rarienda MP Otiende Amollo said the proposals need to be looked at with a pinch of salt.
He said the amendments should be considered for the good of Kenyans and not for the convenience of the President.
“This is so that if we amend the Constitution, we do it once and we introduce all the good things we want. The way we tried with the BBI,” he said.
He affirmed that for the process, the House will follow the directives of the Supreme Court and the dictates of the people.
On the matter of Parliamentary oversight of the executive, Amollo said even though it was not a bad idea, it needed the cabinet secretaries not to be strangers to the house.
“Cabinet secretaries cannot come to the floor of Parliament to answer questions right now because they are strangers. For them to do that, you must amend the Constitution and allow them to serve as CSs and MPs,” he said.
“Again, to do that, that requires a referendum.”