Has the Kenyan Opposition lost it’s value? For sometime now the opposition has been seen as a useless outfit that is sleeping on it’s job.
The coming of the handshake between President Kenyatta and Opposition Chief Raila Odinga has been seen by many as the last nail hit on the opposition politics of the country.
What then is the way forward for a seemingly dying opposition in the Country?
According to DP William Ruto, the creation and recognition of the official opposition in Parliament will help streamline the opposition.
Ruto said the current formulation undermines executive accountability and saddled “our democracy with a headless, incoherent and dysfunctional opposition.”
Ruto noted it was not proper that the leader of a party garnering the second highest votes had no formal constitutional role.
“Elections in Kenya are a close-run contest. Often enough, the winner and runner-up achieve more than five million votes. The winner ascends to a formally constituted leadership role while the runner-up becomes a virtual stranger in leadership,” he said while addressing Chatham House, London, on Friday.
However, the Deputy President said it will be up to Kenyans to decide if they want a change in the constitution.
To tame the winner-takes-all formation, and therefore allow the opposition to actively take part in the running of the country, Ruto proposed an ambitious reconfiguration of the government to comprise the national executive and the official opposition.
He said the leader of the party which comes second becomes the leader of the opposition and with his or her running mate, automatically become Members of Parliament, and assume leadership of the Official Opposition.
“This formula should apply at the county level. I further propose that with the Leader of Opposition taking leadership of the opposition in Parliament, the Deputy President should then take over the Leadership of Government Business in Parliament. This should be replicated with the Deputy Governor at the counties,” he added.
Do you support Ruto’s latest suggestions?