NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on Monday told the nation in an address before parliament that he would temporarily step down as president while attending a hearing at the International Criminal Court this week.

Kenyatta said he would invoke a never-before-used article of the constitution that will see Deputy President William Ruto temporarily fulfill the role of president. That article says the deputy can fill in when the president is absent, temporarily incapacitated or during any other period the president decides.