President Uhuru Kenyatta‘s State of The Nation address in 2016 was disrupted after opposition MPs started expressed their displeasure at him.
National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi introduced the President who took to the podium but before he could start his speech, the legislators started blowing whistles they had carried with them.
President Kenyatta could be seen laughing it off as he gave them time to calm down.
The booing however continued and when some members sought to intervene, he told them “Wacha waendelee (Let them go on).”
The Speaker then ordered some of the legislators to leave the chambers before the address continued.
Uhuru resumed his address stating that “After having been thoroughly entertained …” but before he could continue, the whistling picked momentum again.
After the chaos showed no signs of subsiding, Muturi struck a more conciliatory tone urging, “Those members wishing to withdraw may withdraw.”
Among the members who were ordered out of the chambers for whistling included Opiyo Wandayi(Ugunja), Gladys Wanga (Homa Bay Woman Rep), John Mbadi (Suba) and TJ Kajwang (Ruaraka).
The protesting MPs had planned with so much care and secrecy that until they disrupted the speech, parliamentary staff had no idea what was going to happen.
The President was eventually able to make his 46-minute address, which he modelled around the idea of the Constitution enacted in 2010 as a national covenant.
He stated that while the opposition had disagreed with Jubilee’s understanding of the national covenant, this had created the most active and effective opposition and civil society in Africa.
