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Counties that will make or break BBI push

Wednesday, January 27th, 2021 09:00 | By
BBI secretariat members arrive at IEBC offices in Nairobi with BBI signatures from various counties. Photo/PD/File

Having cleared the first major hurdle on its way to a constitutional referendum, top officials of the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) have mapped the country into three zones as focus now turns to county assemblies.

The zones, those in the bag, those doubtful to support and those which will be openly hostile to the proposals, will now inform the process of selling the project to county leaders.

This is after the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) yesterday announced it had verified the more than 1.1 million BBI signatures and found them to be genuine.

“The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission received a draft Bill to amend the Constitution by Popular Initiative pursuant to Article 257 of the Constitution of Kenya, 2010, dubbed Building Bridges Initiative.

The Commission, through interim verification of data captured as of January 19, 2021, has confirmed and is satisfied that 1,140,845 registered voters have supported the Initiative.

This is, therefore, to notify you that the Initiative has met the requisite threshold as provided in Article 257 (4) of the Constitution of Kenya, 2010,” a statement signed by IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati.

Chebukati said he had written to Speakers of the 47 county assemblies asking them to table the draft BBI (Constitutional Amendment) Bill 2020, for consideration.

“In conformity with Article 257(6), you are required to submit the decisions of your County Assembly to the Speakers of the National Assembly and the Senate within three months,” said the IEBC boss.

With the new development, focus now shifts to Members of the County Assembly (MCAs) who will be tasked with passing the Bill and respective governors who are expected to whip the Ward Reps.

The BBI proponents require the support of at least 24 counties to ratify the Constitutional (Amendment) Bill 2020 that contains the radical proposals.

Yesterday, People Daily was informed that the BBI secretariat had mapped out the three zones with the target being 26 regional units to back the document. 

“We have been working behind the scenes to ensure we have at least 26 counties in our hands by the time IEBC clears the way.

These are the counties that our eyes will be trained on without wasting resources and time on areas we have limited chances,” said a well-placed source at the secretariat.

President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Handshake partner Raila Odinga are said to have been informed of the counties strategy as Kenyans awaited IEBC to endorse the signatures, an announcement the agency made yesterday.

We also established that meetings had been held with targeted county assembly speakers, majority and minority leaders, chief whips and chairmen of key assembly committees.

Sources said the focus would be made on devolved units in Western, Nyanza, Lower Eastern, Coast and Maa speaking regions, which are considered friendly or amenable to the BBI proposals.

The North Eastern region has been mapped as a moderate area where the secretariat expects to meet some challenges from opponents of the initiative, mainly from areas that support Deputy President William Ruto.

The Mt Kenya region, which had turned hostile to BBI culminating the controversial letter by Senate Chief Whip Irungu Kang’ata, is slowly being won back with concerted efforts by the President and his team.

Last week, the Head of State addressed the region through vernacular radio stations and clarified the benefits and implications of the initiative.

He has since been followed by Raila and Amani National Congress party leader Musalia Mudavadi.

On Saturday, the President will host a wide cross-section of leaders from the region at Nyeri’s Sagana State Lodge, a move likely to change the BBI tide in the mountain region.

Nairobi has been classified as a friendly county following the December impeachment of former governor Mike Sonko, a strong ally of the Deputy President.

The two have also replaced all the House leadership in Nairobi with their allies, which would make it easier for the BBI document to sail through.

Rift Valley region, Ruto’s political bastion, where individuals with divergent views from those of the DP have been heckled at public meetings, has been identified as a “hard” area where the BBI proponents may visit “for the sake of visibility”. 

However, the BBI proposal to increase funding to counties and also create a Ward Development Fund to be administered by MCAs is likely to complicate matters for those who will be seen to oppose the idea.

There are fears that voters may punish people being seen to block their areas from accessing increased State funding.

After yesterday’s IEBC declaration, county assemblies will have three months from the date of submission to make their decisions on the Bill and forward their decisions to the Speakers of the National Assembly and the Senate for consideration.

Great milestone

Article 157(7) of the Constitution states that if the draft Bill has been approved by a majority of the county assemblies, it shall be introduced in Parliament without delay.

If a majority of the members of each House pass the Bill, it shall be submitted to the President for assent.

Former Dagoretti South MP Denis Waweru, who co-chairs the BBI secretariat, said the decision by the commission marks a great milestone for the process.

“With the clearance from IEBC we now have a short time to have the BBI Referendum Bill tabled in all the 47 county assemblies in order to have a referendum conducted as soon as possible.

The secretariat will soon be giving more directions with regard to the process,” he said.

And speaking to People Daily, Nyandarua County Assembly Speaker Wahome Ndegwa, who chairs the County Assemblies Forum, said they expect the Bill to be tabled in the assemblies from February 9 when MCAs reconvene from their recess.

According to Ndegwa, the assemblies will have 90 days to look at the bill starting today, subject it to public participation before it is submitted to the national Speakers.  

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