Senator Ledama Olekina of Narok has made a daring and contentious suggestion to do away with Kenyan governors’ 10-year term limit.
In a social media post on Monday, August 4, the senator made the recommendation, claiming that the present cap unintentionally encourages corruption and obstructs long-term progress at the county level.
According to Ole Kina, the existing two-term cap pushes governors into a cycle of political survival, where they spend the first term appeasing political forces and the second term exploiting resources to secure their personal futures. “First five years are spent bootlicking, the next five looting,” he wrote. “What if removing the limit made them focus on service, not survival?”
While the senator’s remarks appear to be driven by a desire to enhance accountability and performance in county leadership, they have sparked sharp criticism online. Many Kenyans questioned whether removing term limits would truly enhance service delivery or merely open the floodgates to entrenched power and unchecked graft.
One online critic sarcastically questioned the effectiveness of current governors, citing underperformance in counties like Nairobi and Nandi. Others pointed out that Members of Parliament, who face no term limits, have repeatedly under-delivered, challenging the logic of Ole Kina’s argument.
The proposal also reignites an ongoing national conversation around leadership tenure, particularly as some politicians, like Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei, have previously suggested extending the term to ten years.
President William Ruto, however, has distanced himself from such debates, despite persistent speculation linking these suggestions to political power plays at the national level.
