Aukot says constitutional amendment likely after Raila’s failed AUC bid

Thirdway Alliance party leader Ekuru Aukot says Kenyans are staring at potential constitutional amendment following former prime minister Raila Odinga’s loss in the African Union Commission (AUC) chairperson election.

Odinga, whom President William Ruto had thrown his weight behind and mobilised state resources to support his bid, lost the continental seat to Djibouti candidate Mahamoud Ali Youssouf on Saturday.

Aukot told Citizen TV’s Day Break program on Thursday that a push to accommodate Odinga in Ruto’s administration is imminent, similar to the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) and National Dialogue Committee (NADCO).

“I foresee a referendum coming, the legislation of NADCO or BBI for the purposes of accommodating Raila Odinga,” Aukot said.

Conceived in March 2018, BBI was the brainchild of former president Uhuru Kenyatta and Odinga, then opposition leader. It marked a political truce for the two who had challenged each other for the presidency in the 2017 general election.

The initiative proposed constitutional changes such as creating a prime minister post, (widely seen as efforts to accommodate Odinga in Kenyatta’s government which Ruto vehemently opposed), two deputies and an official opposition leader.

However, the High Court Court in May 2021 thwarted the subsequent constitutional referendum attempt on the grounds that it was unconstitutional.

After Odinga unsuccessfully challenged Kenyatta’s deputy Ruto in the 2022 presidential race, the two leaders later united and the head of state supported Odinga’s AUC bid.

Meanwhile, NADCO was another committee formed after Ruto and Odinga agreed to have talks after deadly anti-government protests between March and July 2023.

It also proposed the establishment of prime minister and official opposition leader posts.

Aukot on Thursday called 80-year-old Odinga, who has unsuccessfully contested for Kenya’s presidency five times, a “constant political failure” nonetheless needed in Ruto’s administration.

“This is the most failed regime in Kenya’s history and for them to continue being in that slumber, they would rather bring the biggest noisemaker who can mobilise a revolt on the streets although a constant political failure,” he said.

In recent days following Odinga’s loss, some Ruto allies have been calling for a constitutional amendment to create the prime minister post, which they say should be given to Odinga.

Among them are Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei and Belgut MP Nelson Koech.

But such changes need a referendum steered by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), which has not been constituted since the remaining former commissioners left in 2023.