Tuesday, June 4, 2024 –Deputy presidents should now retire with their bosses after their term comes to an end.
This new twist of events was made public today after a resident of Mt. Kenya submitted an application to the Parliament requiring deputies not to run for any seat after their term concludes.
Details have emerged that a petition, submitted on June 3, has been sent to Parliament recommending that deputy presidents be barred from vying for the presidency immediately after their term ends.
John Mweha Kariuki, a prominent community leader from Ndenderu, has asked the Parliament to amend Article 148 of the Constitution to include the deputy exclusion clause.
“The deputy president shall be ineligible to vie for the presidency immediately after his or her term is over,” the clause reads.
The petitioner, asked by the media why he wants to stop deputies from running for the top seat, defended the move saying, it is now a bad culture in Kenya that all deputies are falling out with their bosses what is a great disadvantage to the electorates who deserve service delivery from the people put into power.
“It hurts me and every Kenyan to see the President and his deputy fighting all the time. This has often led to many Kenyans not receiving services like they should,” Mweha said as quoted by a section of the media.
If this Clause is adopted by the National Assembly, DP Rigathi Gachagua could find himself blocked from vying, when he is ready for the job.
President William Ruto came to power after falling out with his boss Uhuru Kenyatta what forced the former to chat his own way upto the House on the Hill.
Upto now, Dr. Ruto remains the only deputy president who managed to fight with his boss and win the election against the wishes of his boss.
