Outgoing President Uhuru Kenyatta doesn’t need to physically attend his successor William Ruto’s swearing-in event, former Minister Franklin Bett says.
Bett points out that while Uhuru should be a gentleman enough to do it, he might try not to because of the enmity between him and the man who for ten years served as his deputy.
He notes that even so, Ruto will still be sworn in as President with or without Uhuru in accordance with the constitution, and will be handed the instruments of power, including the ceremonial sword.
Bett says that the instruments are in the possession of the Kenya Defence Forces, and will easily be handed to Ruto by the Speaker of the National Assembly if Uhuru boycotts the event.
The former Bureti Member of Parliament and State House Comptroller adds that this can also be done by the KDF Chief of Staff or the Attorney General.
“At the moment, those instruments are in the custody of the Kenya Defense Forces because the President is the Commander-in-Chief. So, the Chief of Staff of the KDF can basically do the handover of those instruments, very easily,” he says in an article in The Star.
He has also asked ODM leader Raila Odinga to accept defeat and move to other things, reminding him that not conceding doesn’t make him a winner.
He has further disagreed with the leader, who was the Azimio La Umoja presidential candidate, for moving to court to petition Ruto’s win without tangible evidence, further embarrassing himself.
“I also want to tell my good friend Raila Odinga, time is up. He should not even have agreed to those people who convinced him to go to court without concrete evidence,” he says.
