Share this
BBI Secretariat Announces Total Number Of Signatures Collected
The Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) secretariat on Friday, December 4 announced that it has collected a total of 5.2 million signatures in support of the referendum.
Speaking during the unveiling of the signatures at the BBI secretariat, Orange Democratic Movement leader Raila Odinga revealed that the signatures collected could go as high as six million.
Dennis Waweru, BBI secretariat co-chair, stated that the signatures will be submitted to the Independent Electoral Commission in the next one week for verification.
“In the next one week, we’re going to ensure that the signatures have been submitted to IEBC…ata hapa Nairobi tunaona mawingu, we need handshake team working together, and because I have passed the interview now, nafikiri nimetosha…”
“We have already put in places a digital mechanism to capture the signatures in the format approved by IEBC within the short time possible,” Waweru said.
The team noted that the exercise was conducted and completed without any hitches across the country, a demonstration of great goodwill from Kenyans.
The signatures were delivered to the secretariat from at least 16 regional coordinators who spearheaded the process.
The signature collection exercise in support of the BBI referendum came to an end today ramping up the country to the next phase of verification by IEBC.
The Constitution of Kenya Amendment Bill 2020 will then be taken to the 47 county assemblies before subjecting it to debate in the national assembly.
Even as the BBI process moves to the next stage, Deputy President William Ruto still maintains that it is not too late to have a consensus building on the report to avoid a ‘YES, NO’ referendum.
Speaking during an interview with Citizen TV on Thursday night, December 3m DP Ruto stated that he cannot stand aside and do nothing about BBI vowing that he would not sit back and watch “the wrong thing” being done.
“This is a constitution-making process. The constitution is about every Kenyan, myself included. If it is being amended, I do not have the luxury to stand aside and do nothing about it…I do not want history to judge me for not stepping out to speak out.”
“The position I have taken is that a referendum is possible, that we can have a win-win outcome, that we do not need have a divisive referendum…A DP, I have a duty to do everything in my power to ensure Kenyans travel together,” Ruto said.
On Wednesday, Ruto issued new ultimatums that he said should be fully addressed to guarantee his support on the referendum.
Among issues the DP want addressed are the number of the size of Parliament and the Executive, the appointment of the Ombudsman, appointment of the IEBC Commissioners and the independence of the police.
