Kenya’s Court of Appeal on Friday rejected a proposal by President Uhuru Kenyatta to make fundamental changes to the country’s constitution, upholding earlier High Court judgment.

The proposed amendments remained a source of growing political controversy ahead of the August 2022 presidential election.

The court declared the process of the amendments launched in November 2019 by President Uhuru Kenyatta as illegal.

“The president does not have the power under the constitution to initiate constitutional amendments. A constitutional amendment can only be initiated by Parliament” or “by popular initiative,” said presiding Kenya’s Appeal Court Judge Daniel Musinga at the conclusion of the more than ten hours of reading of the ruling.

President Uhuru Kenyatta argued that the initiative will help end repeated cycles of election violence in the East African country, a hot-button issue that has divided the political elite.

The proposed reforms came about following a rapprochement between Kenyatta and his erstwhile opponent Raila Odinga and a famous handshake between the two men after post-election fighting in 2017 left dozens of people dead.