Uhuru Planning to Succeed Himself in 2022, Says Martha Karua

Narc-Kenya party leader Martha Karua claims there is a plot to extend President Kenyatta’s stay in power.

Karua, who spoke during a media briefing on Tuesday, said the scheme involves either President Kenyatta clinging to power after the expiry of his term next year or imposing a leader on Kenyans.

"If we stand by, we will not have elections as we know it in 2022. We will have those in power, the President and his cronies, select for us or have the administration succeed itself," Karua said.

"Those pushing the BBI project are less than 4,000. This includes all the elected leaders in the counties and national level and all civil servants at the county and national levels. While Kenyan voters are over 20 million waiting to get informed so that they can make a decision.”

At the same time, Karua condemned the violence witnessed during various by-elections last week, warning that elections are in jeopardy if regional kingpins are allowed to act as the mouthpieces of Kenyans.

"The state has sponsored a narrative that regional kingpins are the order of the day. We saw violence [during the March 4 by elections] and this violence, we believe, was deliberate and aimed at achieving an outcome which reinforces regional kingship,” said Karua.

"Regional kingship is being confined to the big 5 tribes in Kenya, who account for 65% of the population, we have the other 38 tribes forming 35%. Should the big 5 perpetuate themselves at the expense of the other tribes? No! It would mean that 'big boys' - and I'll deliberately call them 'boys' because this looks like a boys' initiative - from the 5 tribes will eat from the other tribes while others watch helplessly." 

Karua, who is leading the Linda Katiba Movement, termed the BBI process as an attempt to overthrow the 2010 Constitution.

"Now the BBI project is revisiting the 2010 Constitution which the President has always considered as an inconvenience. He wants to exercise unlimited power."