Senate Majority Leader Kipchumba Murkomen has backed calls to have a referendum before 2022 polls, in what could be a change of tactic by DP William Ruto.
For months now, Dr Ruto has blown hot and cold on calls to have a plebiscite, raising doubts about his committment to support handshake between President Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila Odinga.
At some point, Dr Ruto insisted that the handshake is meant to undermine his 2022 presidential bid, adding that the fight against corruption is not real.
But on Tuesday, National Assembly Majority Leader Aden Duale supported calls to hold a referendum before 2022 polls, a move that was also supported by Murkomen.
Both Duale and the Elgeyo-Marakwet senator are staunch supporters of DP William Ruto, who had expressed reservations on the constitutional changes.
"Referendum should happen before 2022 based on the 'handshake' so that it creates an element of inclusivity, reduce divisive politics that slows economic growth and destruction of properties after every five years due to post election violence," Duale said.
"Let’s do it Aden. Well Spoken!" added Murkomen, although it's not clear whether he was satirical or real over the referendum calls.
The new twist of events could be a big boost to proponents of referendum, who has been calling for changes after the disputed 2017 polls that left a couple of people dead.
But while Duale is supporting parliamentary system of government, Murkomen and DP William Ruto have been opposed to creation of more posts in executive.