Former Nominated Senator Gloria Orwoba has proposed a constitutional amendment that would make failure to deliver on campaign promises an impeachable offence.
She argued that Kenyans deserve real accountability when leaders fail to honour the timelines they themselves set out in their manifestos.
“If our parliament was not captured by the same person who condescends to this situation, I would say that they should have proposed a bill where, as a president, you can be impeached for not fulfilling a manifesto promise,” Orwoba said.
Orwoba suggested that manifestos should be formally submitted to and approved by the IEBC, turning them into a binding blueprint that candidates would be legally required to deliver on.
She argued that such a framework should not be limited to the presidency but extended to all elective offices, including county assemblies.
“There should be a structured framework of the promises that you are going out to give the electorate, and you should be able to deliver them within a certain timeline, like a deadline. With that, then there are stop-gap measures in ensuring that the promises are actually fulfilled,” she stated.
Orwoba acknowledged that, in the absence of such a legal framework, citizens are largely left hoping that leaders will keep their word once in office.
“It’s a hope, and then you can only make that assessment based on how I have seen him respond to certain situations. But if he gets into office and shows you the middle finger, then it’s done. You all there’s nothing you can do, he’s in office, he has the sword, he has the power,” she said.
She pointed to her work on the Women’s Charter as an example of how leaders can make promises and later fail to deliver on them without being held accountable.
On the Hustler Fund, which was meant to operate as a revolving fund supporting women-led cooperatives, Orwoba said the initiative collapsed after its first year.
“It was a pyramid scheme. The first few people are beneficiaries. After that, it’s downhill. That’s why it’s very quiet, you don’t hear anything about the Hustler Fund anymore,” she said, adding that the repayment rate had effectively turned it into a grant rather than a sustainable fund.
