The Law Society of Kenya (LSK) Thursday asked Parliament to dismiss President William Ruto’s recent proposal to amend the Constitution.
LSK President Eric Theuri said the proposed constitutional changes are unconstitutional.
He said Ruto is trying to circumvent the Supreme Court’s ruling on the BBI case which affirmed that the president does not have the powers to instigate constitutional changes.
“The proposed amendments are unconstitutional. The amendments are being initiated by the President contrary to the decision in the BBI case and so therefore they should not see the light of day in Parliament,” said Theuri.
“There is a very clear precedent that has been set by the courts that those proposed amendments should not be entertained by Parliament.”
Ruto, on December 9, 2022, wrote to the Speakers of the Senate and the National Assembly asking them to spearhead the process of making amendments to the Constitution so that the State can establish an office for the official leader of the opposition.
Theuri said the proposed amendments will change the basic structure of the constitution to accommodate an office that he says is not in consonance with the presidential system of governance that Kenya adopted after the enactment of the 2010 Constitution.
Theuri asked the Executive to focus on addressing issues that are currently affecting Kenyans across the country.
“We are all aware that a huge population of our country is facing drought; the youth in this country are largely unemployed and there have been increased levels of insecurity in the country,” said the LSK frontman.
“We want to urge the President that there are greater issues that concern the Executive other than the proposed unconstitutional amendments.”
