Jubilee Party Presidential Candidate Dr Fred Matiang’i has come out gun blazing defending former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s recent remarks amid rising political temperatures triggered by a fresh push from allies of President William Ruto to review retirement benefits enjoyed by former heads of state
While Matiang’i addressing Journalists on Monday at Jubilee Party Headquarters, disclosed that their party leader has remained a gentleman shying off talking about some of the benefits the current administration has denied him, but called for UDA leaders to respect the former head and apply descent language
The debate has intensified after Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei filed a motion in the Senate seeking to stop, reduce, or fully reallocate the benefits accorded to Uhuru.
Cherargei’is proposal, calls for a full audit of public resources allocated to the former president and suggests that any recovered funds be redirected to public welfare programs.
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At the same time, political temperatures rose further after Uhuru publicly endorsed Matiang’i for the presidency during a phone-in address to Jubilee Party members in Narok, reigniting debate over his continued political influence despite retiring from office
But according to Matiang’i, Uhuru enjoys constitutional rights to opinion and endorsing whoever wants to endorse just like in America, when former President Barrack Obana endorsed Kamala Harris and strongly criticised what he termed as “political pettiness” from some leaders targeting the former president.
“Time in life, you hope that in a serious country like ours, there are things you do not need to spend time on,” Matiang’i said, referring to the ongoing debate over retired presidents’ entitlements.
He added that Kenya should not be an exception in respecting former heads of state, citing examples of other African nations.
“Nigeria, Tanzania, Botswana, Mozambique, there are quite many retired presidents across Africa. We must not trivialise this matter,” he noted.
The Call for Democracy and Decency language
‘’We chose democracy. We know that our current president and his team did not support this constitution, but this will to protect it provides an opportunity for all of us to respect freedom of expression and association,” he said.
“Our party leader is going nowhere, and our party leader will continue to express himself. It is his constitutional right to support whoever he wants and state his position
Matiang’i further condemned what he described as escalating insults and disrespect directed at Uhuru Kenyatta by some politicians aligned to the Kenya Kwanza administration.
‘’The kind of behaviour we have seen from elected leaders is shocking. We must uphold decent dissent. We can have differences, but we must be decent about it,” he said.
He cautioned against the normalisation of unmannerly political language, adding that even Jubilee Party members should refrain from retaliatory attacks
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‘’Even the language that is being used by some of these leaders in reference to President Kenyatta is shocking. We have said this before; we will not encourage our members to use such language against President William Ruto. It is indecent and unbecoming. We are building a society that respects democratic principles,” Matiang’i warned
Cherargei’s motion has added fuel to the already heated political temperatures. The proposal seeks parliamentary approval to revoke or vary budgetary allocations linked to Uhuru Kenyatta’s retirement package.
“Any funds recovered from benefits previously accorded to the retired President shall be redirected to serve the interests and welfare of the people of Kenya,” part of the motion reads.