After being away from parliament in 10 years, President William Ruto seems to be forgetting about the rules and traditions that govern the house operations.
On Tuesday, the head of state graced the opening of the official opening of the second sitting of the East Africa Legislative Assembly in Nairobi.
He was invited by the speaker of the Assembly Joseph Ntakirutimana to give the opening speech when he confessed about the tradition he had broken earlier, leaving the members of Assembly in stitches.
According to him, he clapped instead of stamping his feet during the speaker’s address.
“When it was time to applause I found myself clapping and I know that is not the tradition in Parliament. I had to remind myself,” Ruto said.
“Mr. Speaker, Let me apologize because I have been away from Parliament, for now, more than 10 years and I found myself doing the wrong things,” he said.
He however proceeded to welcome EALA members to the country’s capital.
“Let me first take this opportunity on behalf of the government and people of Kenya to welcome members of EALA to Nairobi. It is my wish that you will enjoy the liberations in Nairobi and also have time to enjoy Kenya,” Ruto said.
At the same time, Ruto said that the decision to back ODM leader Raila Odinga for the African Union Chairmanship was a collective decision of East African heads of states.
“As you are all aware the chair of AU is coming up. As the term of Mousa Faki comes to an end. It is going to be the turn of East Africa to provide the chair of the African Union. We have sat down in the spirit of the East African community. We have consulted as heads of state from the East African Community together we have agreed as East Africans,” he said.
