Revealed: President Kenyatta’s Efforts to Bring Ruto on Board BBI Train
The clamor to pass the BBI without further amendments has taken a new twist after leaders allied to President Uhuru Kenyatta and DP William Ruto are said to be finalizing a common ground that will allow for minor amendments.
It is believed that President Kenyatta is spearheading the discussions that seeks to bring DP William Ruto aboard the BBI train.
This new stance comes despite claims by some proponents of the Building Bridges Initiative process that there is no window for any changes to the published bill.
DP has in the recent past claimed the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill, 2020 can be amended to address his concerns for a win-win situation in the referendum that will lead to an uncontested plebiscite.
According to the Star Newspaper, a 12-member team leading consensus talks from Kieleweke and Tangatanga has made significant progress.
The daily reports that the Senate Majority Whip Irungu Kangata leads a team of six, while the DP’s faction is led by Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria.
Speaking to the Star, Kangata said that they are exploring options to address the DP’s conditions, including sponsoring legislative proposals in Parliament.
“We are exploring legislative remedy to their concerns,” Kang’ata said when asked how they intend to address the DP’s issues.
“We are thrashing out issues and we hope to finalise by Thursday,” he added.
The DP Ruto led side has tabled three demands including review of the Equalisation Fund sharing formula, election of the 47 woman representatives to the National Assembly and a multi-choice referendum.
Reports indicate that the DP’s side has dropped other demands, including holding the BBI referendum and 2022 General Election on the same day.
“The ball is in their court. We have submitted our issues during the meetings and we hope these issues will be brought on board so we don’t have to go into a divisive referendum,” Kuria said.
Kuria added, “I hope wisdom prevails before Friday. We have no problem going per the current signatures collected if we agree.”
Kuria also told the star that they are not ready to back down on their demands and want all of them fulfilled if there is to be any consensus.
