KISUMU, KENYA: Deputy President William Ruto has accused Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (CORD) leader Raila Odinga of plotting to mutilate the Constitution to fit his personal interests.
Ruto told off Raila and his CORD allies over their calls for a referendum, saying the issues raised are not new to Kenyans and that they were raised long before its promulgation but they brushed them off.
Addressing a public forum during the Constitution’s fourth anniversary in Kisumu, Ruto warned Kenyans against being misled to embrace the referendum idea which he said was motivated by partisan politics. The Promulgation of the Constitution gave way to the devolved system of governance.
He accused the opposition of employing the same strategies which spoilt the independent Constitution which meant good for the country.
He said political greed engulfed the post-colonial leaders leading to unnecessary amendments which eventually made the document to lose flavour.
“What destroyed the independence Constitution were parochial, partisan and political expediency carried out without due considerations. The same people calling for referendum admitted to Kenyans that the document had gaps and that the gaps would be filled progressively. Why referendum now?” Ruto asked.
Ruto said he raised fundamental issues before the referendum, which gave birth to the new Constitution but Raila and his allies in the ‘Yes’ camp said the issues would be looked at progressively.
The forum brought together chairmen of all constitutional commissions and independent offices in the country.
The Deputy President said he swore to defend the Constitution and should not be mistaken for the position he took before the promulgation of the document in 2010.
“I opposed the Constitution because of certain issues but when Kenyans voted for it I had to accept the majority will and defend it. The same Constitution has clear provisions on how to resolve the issues raised by CORD without necessarily going to the ballot,” he said.
He said a referendum will set a bad precedent in the country as people will be running to the ballot every time an issue is raised.
-standardmedia.co.ke
