{"id":18153,"date":"2020-11-26T21:11:28","date_gmt":"2020-11-26T21:11:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.com\/kenya\/?p=18153"},"modified":"2020-11-26T21:11:28","modified_gmt":"2020-11-26T21:11:28","slug":"uhuru-raila-rally-for-signatures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/uhuru-raila-rally-for-signatures","title":{"rendered":"Uhuru, Raila rally for signatures"},"content":{"rendered":"

AfricaPress-Kenya:<\/strong> President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM leader Raila Odinga have rallied voters to append their signatures in support of the proposed constitutional changes.<\/p>\n

Uhuru said were it not for the March 9, 2018 Handshake, the country would have been brought to its knees following the disputed 2017 elections that pitted him against Raila.<\/p>\n

He rallied Kenyans to \u201coverwhelmingly support the amendment Bill\u201d so as to secure the country from the vicious cycle of electoral violence.<\/p>\n

Raila dismissed claims that the document was recreating an imperial presidency as well as trying to erode the independence of the Judiciary. He labelled opponents of the process as prophets of doom.<\/p>\n

He called on voters to turn out in large numbers to endorse the document and bring to an end \u201cthe difficult days of hatred and division\u201d that the country has endured in the past.<\/p>\n

Yesterday, the Handshake partners launched the signature collection in support of the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill, 2020, with some amendments on the initial proposals. They also disclosed how they reached out to some stakeholders to thaw opposition against the planned referendum.<\/p>\n

President Kenyatta revealed his meeting with some religious leaders that resulted in the inclusion of \u201ccentrality of God in Kenya\u201d in the preamble.<\/p>\n

In the final document, the Senate has been handed enhanced mandate, with the contested proposal to establish the Kenya Police Council being dropped.<\/p>\n

Widely consultative<\/p>\n

\u201cI am confident that this process has been widely consultative and has captured the best of our ideas and ideals. And this is not the end of the process as Kenyans will continue to express themselves and eventually make a choice on the fate of this referendum Bill,\u201d said Uhuru.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are once again taking these proposals to you, Kenyans, requesting you to confirm and endorse your own proposals.\u201d<\/p>\n

The president highlighted the clause seeking to increase revenue allocation to the counties from 15 per cent to 35 per cent as well as the establishment of a Ward Development Fund. He described the new fund to be managed by Members of County Assembly as a game-changer in taking development to the grassroots.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd not only that \u2013 the Bill proposes a strengthened Senate that is able to oversight the counties more robustly. It also requires county assemblies and the Senate to ensure greater accountability of the increased funds going to the counties,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

President Kenyatta cited the clause proposing a man and a woman elected as a senator for each of the 47 counties as a major gain in addressing gender parity and representation.<\/p>\n

He said since women will make up 50 per cent of the Senate, they will have a say in determining how the proposed 35 per cent of national revenue to the counties are shared.<\/p>\n

The president said the additional seats for women in the Senate were on top of affirmative orientation in appointive positions.<\/p>\n

He revealed that intelligence by State agencies had indicated that the country was on the verge of plunging into chaos and destruction after the disputed polls.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am telling you this honestly as your president who consumes first-hand information only available to the Head of State. If there had been no Handshake, this country would have been brought to its knees by very dangerous forces \u2013 the reckless aggressiveness of some, and the triumphant, chest-thumping and stone-walling by others,\u201d said Uhuru.<\/p>\n

He said the need to change the Constitution has been driven by the need to end the threat of violence in every general election due to the feeling of skewed allocation of resources.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has been evident in the never-ending threat of post-election violence; in the growing feelings that its design lacks inclusivity; and that it promotes unfair and skewed representation and unfair distribution of national resources,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Raila said some of them have been victims of the imperial presidency, therefore, they cannot be part of its creation.<\/p>\n

He said Parliament will have a major role in the appointment of the prime minister, implying that the president will not have a sweeping role in the process.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou are all very intelligent people, read through those lines and tell us where we\u2019re creating an imperial presidency,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Independent Judiciary<\/p>\n

The former premier said having ministers in Parliament will facilitate MPs in discharging their oversight role, since they will be able to respond to questions on the floor of the House.<\/p>\n

He defended the proposal to have the president appoint Judiciary Ombudsman, saying an independent person to oversight the arm of government was important.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are saying we are trying to erode the independence of the Judiciary. The Judiciary will remain independent but must be over-sighted. What do you expect to happen if the Ombudsman is appointed by the Chief Justice who is also the president of the Judiciary,\u201d posed Raila.<\/p>\n

He explained that there would be a selection panel that will pick three names before submitting them to the president, who will then be required to submit a name to Parliament for vetting.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Ombudsman will be interviewed by a panel… How does that erode the independence of the Judiciary,\u201d he posed.<\/p>\n

Raila described the launch of the signature collection as the beginning of a new journey in realising the dream of a united country.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are starting a new journey today, and we invite every Kenyan to walk with us because nothing can stop us from realising the Kenyan dream,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have trekked through the difficult days of hatred and division; we have gone through the wilderness of anger and marginalisation; we can see the promised land ahead. But the promised land will never come to us, we have to go to it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

AfricaPress-Kenya: President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM leader Raila Odinga have rallied voters to append their signatures in support of the proposed constitutional changes. Uhuru said were it not for the March 9, 2018 Handshake, the country would have been brought to its knees following the disputed 2017 elections that pitted him against Raila. He rallied […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":18154,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8,12],"tags":[235,254,313,136],"class_list":["post-18153","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-homepage-english","category-policy","tag-bbi","tag-odm-leader-raila-odinga","tag-referendum","tag-uhuru-kenyatta"],"yoast_head":"\nUhuru, Raila rally for signatures - kenya<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM leader Raila Odinga have rallied voters to append their signatures in support of the proposed\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/uhuru-raila-rally-for-signatures\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Uhuru, Raila rally for signatures\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM leader Raila Odinga have rallied voters to append their signatures in support of the proposed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/uhuru-raila-rally-for-signatures\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"kenya\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-11-26T21:11:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2020\/11\/the_abc_of_a_contest5fbf886fb60f8.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"572\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/uhuru-raila-rally-for-signatures#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/uhuru-raila-rally-for-signatures\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Uhuru, Raila rally for signatures\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-11-26T21:11:28+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/uhuru-raila-rally-for-signatures\"},\"wordCount\":943,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/uhuru-raila-rally-for-signatures#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2020\/11\/the_abc_of_a_contest5fbf886fb60f8.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"BBI\",\"ODM leader Raila Odinga\",\"Referendum\",\"Uhuru Kenyatta\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"homepage-english\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/uhuru-raila-rally-for-signatures#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/uhuru-raila-rally-for-signatures\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/policy\/uhuru-raila-rally-for-signatures\",\"name\":\"Uhuru, Raila rally for signatures - 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