Ugenya MP David Ochieng’ has poured cold water on the proposal made by Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei to increase the presidential term from the current five to seven years.
Terming the proposal as “simplistic thoughts”, Ochieng’ said that leaders should not callously front proposals that barely hold any water towards bolstering development.
Speaking on Citizen TV’s Daybreak show on Monday, the Ugenya legislator said that Cherargei’s motion is unfeasible and the constitution cannot be bent to satisfy the interests of a few individuals.
“This one is dead on arrival, well not entertain it. It doesn’t matter whether I am in Kenya Kwanza or Azimio. The person thinking about this kind of thing is living in the past, the very dark past of this country,” he said.
“Stop bothering us with things that will never happen, think of better things. These kinds of thoughts are of lazy people who have refused to better the lives of Kenyans.”
The lawmaker urged Cherargei to instead channel his energy towards making constructive changes while in leadership as opposed to the current groundless proposal.
“Our constitution is a very progressive one and changing things like term limits requires a referendum. I don’t think any right-thinking Kenyan would support the moving of term limits from what they are now,” Ochieng’ said.
“Let Cherargei and his ilk look for better things to do, stop bothering us with things that will never happen.”
The Nandi Senator has presented a memorandum to the National Dialogue Committee seeking to have the Constitution amended to have a president in office for seven years before the next election.
In Cherargei’s view, five years in office is not sufficient for the running of government and forming a formidable team to implement the election manifesto.
The proposal has caused jitters with many Kenyans, among them Western Kenya leaders, censuring the Senator over the proposal.
