Azimio la Umoja coalition is gearing up to push for the establishment of a new office to be occupied by the former Prime Minister Raila Odinga.
Reports say that the coalition will be pushing for the creation of the office of the official Leader of Opposition. This office, which will be occupied by Raila, will be anchored in the constitution.
The office will come with sweeping powers that will allow Raila to address a joint session of Parliament once every year.
The office will also come with salary and funding from the exchequer. In addition to this, Raila will have the power to nominate persons of his interest to statutory constitutional commissions.
A clause in a bill that has been prepared by the coalition through a committee dubbed Constitutional of Kenya (Amendment) Bill cites that the office shall have all such powers and discretion necessary to solicit and mobilise for funding from all such sources, including donor funding to supplement its budgetary allocations to finance its various activities.
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To entrench the office of Leader of Opposition in the constitution, the bill by Azimio will be seeking to amend Article 260 of the Constitution to include the office under the category of ‘state office’.
“The leader of opposition shall be the candidate nominated by a political party or coalition party or coalition of political parties which secures the second greatest number of votes in any concluded presidential elections and whose political party receives at least 25 per cent of all the members of the National Assembly,” the bill cites.
It however remains to be seen if the opposition outfit of Azimio will be able to gather the requisite numbers to push the amendment through parliament.
It is also not clear how this proposal will be received by the ruling Kenya Kwanza coalition of President William Ruto.
