Raila allies vow to stay BBI course ahead of plebiscite
Rawlings Otieno and Eric Juma
Opposition Chief Raila Odinga’s allies have vowed to push the Constitutional Amendment Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) Bill up to the referendum in July.
Senate Minority leader James Orengo and Raila’s elder brother East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) MP Dr Oburu Oginga insisted that BBI is on course and it is the only initiative that will catapult Raila to the presidency in the August 2022 polls.
Orengo and Oburu charged that Raila’s power bid is pegged on the passage of the BBI.
“There is no way a project backed by President Uhuru Kenyatta can fail to see the light of the day.
The document will sail through the Senate and National Assembly before Kenyans vote for it in July,” said Dr Oburu.
Oburu made the remarks during the burial of an ODM party official Mzee Chacha Obange at K’Apiyo village in Bondo constituency where he assured Kenyans that the differences surrounding BBI are minor issues that will just be resolved progressively.
Scuttling the BBI process
Although the joint committee of the Senate and the National Assembly which considered the document has broken the stalemate which had threatened to scuttle the BBI process, the biggest headache at the moment is the execution of a referendum, whose timelines are very tight.
This is coupled with the demarcation of the proposed constituencies – a highly politicised and delicate process that the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) estimates will take a minimum 12 months.
Oburu’s sentiments come on the backdrop of speculation that some agents are working round the clock to scuttle the BBI process after it emerged that varied copies were printed and sent to County Assemblies for passage. Raila’s allies a have spoken about the existence of a deep-rooted force out to scuttle the process.
President Kenyatta and Raila the promoters of the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill, 2020 were working with a June deadline, a timeline that is now becoming a mirage by the day.
Some of Raila’s lieutenants have already demanded a thorough audit and investigations of the whole BBI process to establish who is behind the sabotage and where the mischief was planted.
ODM political affairs secretary Opiyo Wandayi, a close ally of the ODM leader, put the blame on the doorstep of the joint team, which he stated, has been penetrated by the anti-BBI forces.
The Ugunja MP – who also chairs the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) – said the joint committee co-chaired by Muturi Kigano (Kangema) and Senator Okongo Omogeni (Nyamira) was slowly providing a platform for scuttling the whole process.
“Let me say this categorically: the enemies of BBI and by extension the handshake have found convenient allies in the joint parliamentary committees of legal affairs,” said Wandayi, adding that: “These elements are hell-bent on derailing the BBI process and eventually scuttling the handshake. They are throwing spanners in the works in order to achieve this end.”
According to Raila’s lawyer and one of the architects of the BBI process, Paul Mwangi, the saboteurs might have had a leeway in the committee to sink the project.
“When the committees start saying they have different versions, where did they get that from? The committees are supposed to get the document from the Speaker. The Speaker had only one document he received from Chebukati so who are these people in the committee who are claiming there exist other documents?” Mwangi posed.
Submitted by IEBC
He maintained the law ring-fences the referendum process, ruling out any window for introduction of any document apart from the one submitted by the IEBC.
“This is just an attempt to sink this thing (BBI Bill). I am wondering at what stage another document could come in because the process is very clear and the processes do not allow the introduction of another document apart from that which is given by IEBC chairman.”
However, Oburu charged that they are keenly monitoring plots orchestrated by persons keen on sabotaging the initiative through various schemes assuring Kenyans that referendum will be held in four months’ time.
“BBI is the vehicle through which ODM party will clinch the top leadership of this country and those trying to sabotage it are bound to fail,” said Oburu.
Orengo called on Kenyans and more specifically the BBI supporters to remain steadfast and get ready for the referendum in July this year, adding that BBI process will be decided at the ballot.
