Kuria wants formation of select committee to save ‘good’ BBI proposals from sinking
Gatundu South Member of Parliament Moses Kuria now wants President Uhuru Kenyatta to form a joint parliamentary select committee to discuss legislation of beneficial proposals in the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) to avoid a scenario of the entire document being thrown away for lack of substantial support.
Kuria maintained that the country cannot afford to lose important BBI proposals such as increased revenues to the counties, creation of new constituencies in underrepresented regions among others.
He reiterated that efforts to move on to a referendum in the current state of affairs in the country would see the document embarrassingly receive low support across the country.
Speaking in Gatundu North after a funeral ceremony for Duncan Githuka, a 26-year-old resident of Kang'oo village who died in a road accident, Kuria urged the Head of State to convene an inter party parliamentary group meeting to discuss possibilities of passing the 'useful' proposals in parliament.
He said that while the document could be good, requisite constitution amendment procedures were not followed.
Kuria also regretted that a section of politicians, for selfish interests, have used the document as a political weapon triggering fury among many Kenyans.
"They have put our president in a very embarrassing situation but as his member of parliament, am ready to work with other leaders to implement what is most necessary in the document through other avenues. Any other thing will be progressively considered as we move forward," said Kuria.
He blamed former Prime Minister Raila Odinga for the challenges witnessed in the enactment of key constitutional amendments saying that instead of focusing on genuine, progressive and beneficial changes, he has been pushing for a contest as a rehearsal for 2022 political competition.
A section of residents from Gatundu shared similar sentiments against the BBI document saying that it lacks the flavour of the current economic shockwaves being witnessed across the country.
They insisted that the document has failed to address youth concerns such as unemployment and instead sought to sugarcoat the proposals to win their loyalty.
The residents led by Abraham Kimani called on the commander in chief to sanitize the document to make it realistic especially on matters tax holidays and delayed repayment of Helb loans.
"The document as it is fails to offer key solutions to the growing economic challenges that we continue to experience as a nation. It's time to rethink it's implementation strategies," said Kimani.
The residents who defended Murang'a senator Irungu Kang'ata for telling President Kenyatta about the 'true feelings on the ground' called on him to shelve the ambition and instead prioritise the real challenges being faced by common citizens.
