Central Organisation of Trade Unions (COTU) secretary general Francis Atwoli has called for a significant change to the current constitution.
He said the dispensation is a stumbling block to President William Ruto and his administration.
Speaking in Khwisero, Kakamega county, on Sunday, November 10, the outspoken leader explained that Ruto cannot successfully undertake his agenda as president due to the avenues in the constitution which give the citizenry the powers to challenge policies and government undertaking they deem as oppressive and against the law.
"We want the president to help us change the Constitution of Kenya 2010. As is, the current constitution gives people the leeway to run to courts to challenge the president whenever he wants to bring us development. A national project cannot continue because it has been challenged in court. If someone killed you today, they will be given bonds in court and then run around to prove themselves as innocent. We want to review our current constitution. Some provisions tend to hold the president back, and his first term might lapse without him achieving anything due to the cases challenging his development agenda," said Atwoli.
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In Kenya, a constitutional change can only happen after the citizenry has okayed it through a popular vote in a referendum.
Atwoli's sentiments came in the wake of the Executive facing off with petitioners challenging government policies and agendas in court.
In the past year, Ruto's regime has been caught in protracted legal battles with civil societies and citizens who moved to court to challenge, among others, the Finance Act 2023, the Housing Levy, and the rollout of SHIF under SHA.
The Executive was recently handed a win by the Supreme Court, which reinstated the Finance Act 2023, enabling the government to collect revenue to fund its operations.
The apex court's decision quashed that of the lower appellate court, which annulled the finance law for being unconstitutional due to a lack of adequate public participation during the enactment process.
The government currently relies on the provisions of the Finance Act 2023 to collect revenue following Ruto's decision to annul the Finance Bill 2024, which was due for his assent.
Ruto declined to sign the bill into law following the insurrection engineered by the Kenyan youth, who were opposed to the oppressive tax regimes in that piece of legislation.
