Kenya President, Deputy Spar Over Plan to End Ethnic Clashes
- Constitutional amendments could be put to the vote next year
- Ruto supporters fear changes may derail presidential bid
Uhuru Kenyatta speaks next to William Ruto in Nairobi in 2017.
Photographer: Simon Maina/AFP via Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
Kenya’s plans to amend the constitution to curb divisive politics and election violence risk backfiring as President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy, William Ruto, pull in different directions.
Sweeping changes to the structure of the government were outlined in the so-called Building Bridges Initiative, which was agreed between Kenyatta and opposition leader Raila Odinga and aimed at preventing a repeat of hostilities that ensued after a disputed presidential election in 2017. That vote was nullified by the Supreme Court and saw Odinga boycott the rerun.