BBI team targeting 5 million signatures by Friday
Wiper party leader Kalonzo Musyoka appends his signature as BBI secretariat co-chair Dennis Waweru looks on at the secretariat offices in Nairobi on December 01, 2020.
What you need to know:
- IEBC, once it verifies and approves the signatures, will send the Bill to the 47 county assemblies for their consideration.
- If at least 24 counties approve the Bill, it will head to both Houses of Parliament, after which it will go to President Uhuru Kenyatta for assent.
The Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) Secretariat has collected two million signatures and projects to hit five million by Friday.
Secretariat co-chairman Dennis Waweru said they have already collected two million signatures in support of the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill 2020, more than half of the required 1 million by the electoral commission to approve the Bill.
“By the end of today (yesterday), we are very optimistic we shall have done 2 million signatures and by Friday, we expect to have hit 5 million,” Mr Waweru said without substantiating.
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), once it verifies and approves the signatures, will send the Bill to the 47 county assemblies for their consideration.
If at least 24 counties approve the Bill, it will head to both Houses of Parliament, after which it will go to President Uhuru Kenyatta for assent and a requirement for the IEBC to conduct a referendum.
On Tuesday, Mr Waweru who was giving an update on the status of the signature collection exercise at the secretariat in Nairobi, expressed confidence that the document will be adopted in the referendum next year.
Signature collection
“We have invited all Kenyans and all parties to take part in this process because it is not a one party or a one region issue, neither is it a one individual task, all have to be involved,” he said.
Secretariat CEO Janet Ong’era said they were using regional coordinators and elected leaders in the exercise and not government administrators.
“This was announced by both the President and former PM during the launch of signatures collection and the two leaders were clear that the facilitators must ensure those signing have read the Bill,” she told Nation, adding: “Anyone doing anything contrary is not working for BBI.”
Mr Waweru noted that the administrators present at the signatures collection venues were only providing security: “The government is only helping in the provision of security and ensuring Covid-19 protocols are observed during the exercise,” he said.
