Political analyst Charles Othina has warned Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) leader Raila Odinga and his allies against being confident of President Uhuru Kenyatta's backing.
Uhuru and Raila have been close since their March 2018 truce, which brought to an end their rivalry as was seen between the 2013 poll and the 2017 elections.
The truce seems to have isolated Deputy President William Ruto, while Raila's allies have been bragging of being in government and urging Uhuru to endorse Raila's presidential bid.
But Othina says that the Uhuru-Ruto agreement where Ruto was to take over in 2022, with Uhuru's support, cannot be ruled out yet, and Uhuru could just be using Raila politically.
"The President needed Mr Odinga to his side to pacify the country and rule in peace. He has achieved that. Nothing stops him from declaring support for his DP ahead of the next elections. They appear to have some tacit arrangement on the same. Let’s wait and see,” he told the Nation.
Prof Amukowa Anangwe, a political science professor at the University of Dodoma, says Uhuru might be holding a hidden card regarding the referendum issue.
And while Raila has openly endorsed the push, Uhuru has remained largely silent on the same, though he has on a few occasions hinted at being in support of expansion of the executive.
But Mr Anangwe says that though he is most likely for the changes, he has left the bulk of the job in the hands of Raila, to avoid looking bad in the instance that its rejected.
He says that Raila should be extra careful in the issue, failure to which he might end up all alone at the and of it.
“I doubt Raila is foolish enough to take the parliamentary route in the absence of a broad-based initiative. Without which it would be a false start for him,” said the commentator.