File image of President William Ruto
President William Ruto has dismissed social media claims that he plans to extend the presidential term limit and serve as President for 20 years.
Speaking at State House, Nairobi, on Tuesday, December 2, while meeting Chiefs and Assistant Chiefs, Ruto noted that leading the country is far from being easy.
The Head of State added that he actually looks forward to the day he will leave office and hand over to his successor.
“I spoke the other day, and some people with bad manners went around claiming that I want to be president for twenty years. Completely foolish people. Do they think I’m crazy? People seem to think being president is easy.
“I am actually waiting for the day I leave this office so someone else can take over and move things forward,” said President Ruto.
The speculation began after President Ruto, on Friday, November 28, questioned how Kenya would look if the affordable housing programme were to continue for the next two decades.
Some social media users interpreted the President’s comments as hinting at an attempt to extend his stay in office beyond 10 years.
This comes almost a year after Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei proposed that the presidential term limit be extended from 5 to 7 years.
Senator Cherargei argued that five years might be insufficient for a president, given the workload that is bestowed upon him.
However, the UDA Party dismissed the Nandi Senator’s proposal, saying it was a personal opinion that has no blessings of the ruling outfit.
“Our attention is drawn to various news headlines and media references to a memorandum submitted to the bipartisan talks team by Senator Samson Cherargei, particularly on his proposal to increase the Presidential term limit to seven years.
“UDA party respects and upholds the senator’s personal views, but particularly on the subject (term limit), those views do not reflect the perspective of the UDA party and/or its party leader, H E President William Ruto,” UDA stated.
