President-elect Uhuru Kenyatta and his Deputy William Ruto will officially be sworn in on Tuesday, 28th November. The event which will take place at the Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani has seen Tuesday declared as a public holiday, as provided for in section 12 (3) of the Assumption to the Office of the president Act.
The event will begin at exactly 10 am and all invited members of the public including dignitaries are advised to be seated by 8 am. The committee, chaired by Secretary to the Cabinet Joseph Kinyua, expects that the president-elect will take the oath of office administered by the Chief Registrar of Judiciary before the Chief Justice between 10 am and 1400 hours (2 pm), and thereafter the deputy president-elect shall also take an oath.
The ritual of handing over the instruments of power and authority will not take place this time around, given that both the president and the deputy are incumbents. “Since the President-Elect is also the Incumbent President, the ritual of handing over the Golden Sword of the Commander in Chief and the Presidential copy of the Constitution will not take place,” Chairman Assumption of the Office of the President Committee Joseph Kinyua said in a statement.
After being sworn in, President Kenyatta is expected to give his inaugural second term speech which pundits argue will largely be aimed at healing and uniting the nation.
There have been talks of a parallel swearing-in of the National Super Alliance (NASA) leader Raila Odinga. “We have a range of options in our hands and swearing in Hon. Raila is one of our options on the table. It has been considered robustly and I can tell you that when the right time comes, the country will be informed,” said NASA CEO Norman Magaya.
Addressing a press conference on November 23, government spokesman Eric Kiraithe dismissed the move as one that does not hurt Kenyans so long as they respect the constitution. “Declaring yourself a people’s president does not even make you a member of the county assembly (MCA), it does not make you anything. It only makes you and your followers happy,” said Kiraithe.
