Kenya: Keep Silent During President Kenyatta State of the Nation Address, MPs Told

President Kenyatta

National Assembly Majority Leader Aden Duale has asked opposition MPs to keep silent when President Uhuru Kenyatta addresses Parliament on Thursday afternoon,

He warned that anyone who tries to disrupt the occasion would be thrown out.

Mr Duale said Jubilee MPs were ready to protect the dignity of the Presidency and Parliament following rumours that Cord lawmakers were mulling over how to disrupt the address.

He also said the lawmakers were aware of plans to mobilise people to disrupt the event outside Parliament.

Speaking at Parliament ahead of the Thursday address, Mr Duale said no lawmaker would make any comment or ask questions when the Head of State is giving the address.

"Standing Order 24 of both Houses states that the President will be heard in silence. It is our own procedures that the President will be heard in silence. He will be heard with no comments, no questions and we expect ... the two Speakers to ensure that orderly conduct [is] observed," said Mr Duale.

NO MAJOR INCIDENT

This is Mr Kenyatta's third State of the Nation address. The previous two have gone without any major incident except last year when MPs from both divides stood up to applause the President when he gave a roadmap on how he was going to tackle corruption.

"It is not the President who is asking to come. It is the Constitution. The President is coming courtesy of the Constitution. If he does not come it will be a breach of the Constitution and that is one good ground for impeachment... the President is not going to Kibera or Garissa. The President is coming to Parliament as demanded by the Constitution," added Mr Duale, who was accompanied by three other MPs Johnson Sakaja, James Lomenen and Jude Njomo.

As per the Constitution, the President must tackle issues around fulfilment of international obligations, security and observance of integrity sections in the supreme law.

Opposition lawmakers are concerned that the President's address would not be anything better than outlining Jubilee agenda instead of giving solutions to the challenges facing the country.

"Our colleagues in Cord have a tendency of dramatising events because of myopic political goals. Today, the President is coming as provided for in the law. We will not allow anybody to disrespect the institution of the Presidency. We will not allow anybody to desecrate the Parliament of Kenya.

There shall be no embarrassment caused to the President. We are ready to defend the President. Kenyans want to listen to their President," said Mr Sakaja.