Anxiety as President Uhuru addresses nation ahead of departure to Netherlands

The President's surprise speech at Parliament Buildings aroused anxiety both among legislators and crowds which gathered outside his Harambee House offices demanding that he addresses them.

A man held a large megaphone as he led others in songs encouraging the Head of State to face his International Criminal Court (ICC) fate with courage.

It was not clear if the crowds had followed the President's speech as he spoke inside the chamber.

The public had camped outside Harambee Avenue from mid-morning and were there when Uhuru walked out after delivering an unprecedented national address on his departure to the ICC for the status conference.

When the President came out,  he managed to outmanoeuvre the crowds by walking to his office, as security men struggled to control traffic along Harambee Avenue.

On the President's side was deputy President William Ruto, who a few minutes later would be officially designated as the acting President.

A senior policeman at the gates got a bit excited and decided to explain to journalists what he had just seen the Head of State do.

"The President has just done what I once saw him do a while back. Uhuru has completely outfoxed the crowds," he told journalists camped outside the gates.

Uhuru entered Harambee House a few minutes after whetting the appetite of MPs. He drove out an hour later in a convoy of three vehicles, symbolically leaving behind the Deputy President, who would now act in his place.

In his speech, the President waxed lyrical about Kenya's sovereignty. He fired subtle salvos against his case, and invoked a resolution of the African Union against him attending The Hague court.

Although it was a largely solemn occasion, it did not lack the usual banter that would give such occasions colour and pomp. When former Minority Chief Whip Gideon Mung'aro walked into the chamber, he was wildly cheered by Jubilee Mps.

Mung'aro is in the bad books of his party, Orange Democratic Movement, over claims of cavorting with the Jubilee administration.

Laikipia North MP Mathew Lempurkel appeared to be explaining to his fellow MPs an incident where he was alleged to have caused a commotion during a flight.

There was an unusually low number of envoys in the diplomatic boxes, most of them being from African countries. Cabinet Secretaries sat in the speaker's gallery.

The President's main message was weaved in between what appeared like carefully-thought-out references to the achievements of his Government. When he mentioned that his Deputy would act as president, Ruto did not flinch a bit, even when his image was beamed on the large screens mounted inside the chambers.