President Uhuru Kenyatta has made it clear that he is not creating any state position for the former Prime Minister as earlier mentioned folloeing their March 9 handshake.
There has been several theories that have emerged from the handshake with some in the opposition calling for a change of the Constitution to create a position for him.
However, President Uhuru Kenyatta said it is not posible as the constitution does not allow him to create any position.
In an interview with the BBC Hard Talk’s Zeinab Badawi, President Kenyatta said that none of those could happen legally.
He further added saying, “Why should we create any new position? We work in the purview of the Constitution. But we can partner with Raila in terms of development.”
The president told off critics of his father Mzee Jomo Kenyatta’s wealth, saying they were “perfectly welcome” to question it, even as he expressed confidence that it is above reproach.
A few days after the Head of State announced the start of lifestyle audits for public servants including himself, a section of Jubilee politicians, particularly Kapseret MP Oscar Sudi, said that the scrutiny should go as far back as the Head of State’s father, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta.
“We can even go back to my grandfather, great grandfather … What we own, and what we have is known to the public. If there is an instance where someone can say what we have done is not legitimate, say it, and we are ready to face any court,” President Kenyatta said in the interview, a few hours after he had a bilateral meeting with his United States counterpart Donald Trump.
In 2011, Forbes Magazine ranked President Kenyatta as number 26 in the list of Africa’s 40 richest people. The magazine said the president and the Kenyatta family owns “at 500,000 acres of prime land acquired by his father in the 1960s and 1970s when the British colonial government and the World Bank funded a settlement transfer fund scheme that enabled government officials and wealthy Kenyans to acquire land from the British at very low prices.”
In the BBC interview, President Kenyatta for the first time said he wants the renewed fight against corruption to be his legacy when he exits office in 2022.
The president further added saying, “It is something I am committed to do. It is what I want my legacy to be — the fight against corruption, and transparency, and to ensure that the nation’s resources are used in the manner it should be.”
He insisted that the lifestyle audit will go on, and will get to all senior government staff, including himself.
In all, he seemed to put the fight against graft in the same category as his Big Four agenda of universal healthcare, affordable housing, food security, and manufacturing.
He said that he had given his all to the fight, and asked the Judiciary to expedite the hearing of the cases, even as he promised more arrests, and prosecutions.
“As a government, as an individual, I am committed to this fight. This is an animal, this beast of corruption, is an animal that we intend to slay. What is remaining now is for our independent judiciary to do its job, and give justice for and on behalf of the people of Kenya,” he said.
While lauding efforts he said had been done quietly over a long period of time, President Kenyatta said no one should be spared in the renewed war against graft.
“Regardless of who you are, even if you are my own family member, I have said that agencies are free to do their job,” he said.
On his relationship with the United States, Britain — ahead of his hosting British Prime Minister Theresa May today — and China, where he will be hosted by Chinese prime minister Xi Jingping, President Kenyatta said the future could only be brighter for Africa.
“Africa is looking to do business. We want to get the best deals. There has been dramatic change across the African continent where people are beginning to get a better understanding of themselves, who they are and where they want to be,” he said, adding that “Africa has come of age and does not look to the world for aid but how to foster win-win partnerships that benefit all parties involved.”
He dismissed as far-fetched and “impossible” calls for him to extend his term beyond 2022. Some analysts had called for a change to the Constitution to have President Kenyatta extend his term beyond the set threshold of not more than two terms.
“There is no such provision in our Constitution (extension of the presidential term limit) because we cannot say, on the one hand, that we are fighting impunity, while, on the other, we turn back and support the very thing we are fighting,” he said.