President Uhuru Kenyatta might have just given a huge boost to deputy president William Ruto in his race to get to Statehouse. While many sections have speculated that the President was looking to amend the constitution to extend his tenure or rather get a more powerful post in the form of the “Prime Minister,” the president has come out to calm the talks.
The President revealed to CNN journalist Richard Quest that he plans to go home once his term in office finally come’s to an end. The President has dismissed talks that he is set to extend his stay in power longer.
This will definitely be a big blow to most of the President’s followers who have called on him to prolong his stay in power with many saying that he is still too young to retire.
“Your term of office ends in 2022. You have said the Constitution prevents you from standing again. Are you trying to go to try and seek to change the Constitution?” Quest asked President Kenyatta, who responded with an emphatic “No.”
“I am not interested,” added Kenyatta when asked whether he would heed the call of those asking him to remain in office.
On the calls for referendum that, the president cleared the air by saying that the referendum was meant to reduce the cost of living that has taken a heavy toll on many Kenyans and not to extend his stay in office.
“People are talking about Constitutional change not necessarily that they are desirous for the president to seek a third term but because of issues related to the cost of running this Constitution,” said Kenyatta.
Speaking to the media after the deliberations, Cecily Mbarire said that the Mount Kenya region was completely behind the president and that they were in full support of the Big 4 Agenda.
She said they had identified development priorities for the region in particular with regards to water, roads, electricity and agriculture.
“We have developed a detailed development matrix that we shall forward to the President for implementation and Mt Kenya region must claim its rightful share of development in the country, within the remaining four years of this current administration,” she said.