Raila Odinga
Azimio lawmakers are pushing for the creation of the official opposition leader position a move that could trigger a constitutional amendment to keep the government in check.
According to a local daily, the Azimio MPs are proposing that the holder of the office be given powers, including an annual address to Parliament, leeway to nominate persons to constitutional statutory commissions as well as funding from the Exchequer to ensure constant oversight of government.
The office, which will be funded by the Exchequer, will have all such powers and discretion necessary to solicit and mobilize funding from all such sources, including donor funding, to supplement its budgetary allocations in order to finance its various activities.
The proposal wants the leader of the official opposition to be permitted to identify and appoint “such staff as shall be necessary for the execution of the said office, whose remuneration, benefits, and allowances shall be drawn from the Exchequer subject to the Salaries and Remuneration Commission.”
It also seeks to amend Article 260 of the Constitution so that the office of the opposition leader is classified as a “state office.”
“The leader of opposition shall be the candidate nominated by a political party or coalition party or coalition of political parties which secures the second greatest number of votes in any concluded presidential elections and whose political party receives at least 25 percent of all the members of the National Assembly,” the proposal reads in part.
The Kenya Kwanza government will be under pressure from Western countries to facilitate the creation of the office following President William Ruto’s promise during his Chatham House address in the run-up to the polls.
The Head of State had said the current formulation undermines executive accountability and saddled “our democracy with a headless, incoherent and dysfunctional opposition”.
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