Uhuru Speaks on Chief Justice David Maraga's Advise to Dissolve Parliament

President Kenyatta has broken his silence on the advisory by Chief Justice David Maraga on the dissolution of Parliament.

Maraga advised Uhuru to disband the August House over its failure to enact legislation required to implement the two-thirds gender rule as required by the constitution.

Uhuru while speaking during an interview with France 24 on Thursday acknowledged that achieving gender parity is not easy.

He noted that it is a regret that MPs have failed to enact the two-thirds gender principle, adding that he will wait for the outcome of the court process before making a decision on whether to dissolve Parliament or not.

“It is indeed a regret but at the same time, the spirit of the Constitution was one progressively getting there… At the end of the day, we must recognize that we must balance the rights of the citizens to elect their representatives and the need for us to have gender parity,” said Kenyatta.
 
“It (dissolving Parliament) is not what I would like to do but it is an option that has been put forward by the Chief Justice. We wait to see the outcome of the court process and that will be the time to decide which is going to be the way forward.” 

Kenyatta was also asked to comment on his relationship with Deputy President William Ruto, which appears to have broken following his handshake with ODM leader Raila Odinga.

He said: “There are some who feel that me reaching out to the opposition is meant to sideline William Ruto but there is nothing more to the contrary. What we are trying to do is bring people together to agree on issues that divide us and then be in a position to actually have an election where the people of Kenya will have the opportunity to choose a leader and have a system that is more inclusive where the results will be such that there is acceptability.” 

Kenyatta remained non-committal on supporting DP Ruto’s 2022 presidential bid, saying his focus at the moment is to achieve peace, stability, and prosperity for Kenyans. Uhuru is in France for a three-day official visit.