Is the country headed for a referendum? The push that was started by former prime minister Raila Odinga might be seeing its way! President Uhuru Kenyatta yesterday gave the clearest signal yet that the country could be headed for a referendum to scrap what he termed a destructive “winner-takes-all” system of government.
Opening up for the first time about pre-handshake talks with his new opposition soulmate Raila Odinga, Uhuru said the current presidential system was unfairly excluding some communities from leadership.
The President said it was necessary to have a government structure that accommodates even election losers to prevent the bitterness among Kenyans that has triggered post-poll violence.
“We said we must look at this issue of winner takes all. If that is why some people feel left out of government, we must ask ourselves, ‘Is is a good thing or not’,” Uhuru said during his first tour of Raila’s Nyanza backyard, previously considered an opposition bedrock.
Speaking in Kisumu where he was given a hero’s welcome, Uhuru acknowledged that the presidential system had weaknesses that needed solutions.
This was the first major hint by the head of state of possible amendments to the Constitution to introduce an alternative system of government ahead of the 2022 General Election.
Uhuru’s remarks came just days after a leaked internal paper by Raila’s ODM Party revealed that the ex-Prime Minister was pushing for radical amendments, including a Parliamentary-type system of government.
Raila’s think tanks also favour a three-tier system of government with 14 regional governments.
Deputy President William Ruto, who was present during the Kisumu visit, has strongly opposed any law change and the President’s hint is likely to put him in a tight corner. He wants to be President in 2022.
Uhuru, who was for the first time wildly cheered in Nyanza, said the exclusion from government was fueling grand corruption.
However, the President, Raila and Ruto were unanimous that the politics of ethnicity that often results in poll violence must end.
Raila recalled the aftermath of the 2017 polls and the anarchy that followed the repeat presidential polls, saying many Kenyans lost their lives because of political competition. Much of Nyanza boycotted that vote and Raila didn’t run.
“Last year in Kisumu there were tears. People told me Raila must be sworn in…and I was sworn in. My people said we need to heap Uhuru’s portraits together and burn them, then start collecting taxes and run a government,” Raila recalled
He added, “Uhuru was equally told Raila has committed a serious crime. We should arrest him, charge him for treason and hang him.”
The ODM boss said this painful standoff necessitated a political truce that resulted in his historic handshake with Uhuru on March 9.