Deputy President William Ruto on Wednesday resisted a strong push by political hardliners in his camp to take a position against the proposed constitutional referendum.
Instead, he outlined his reservations on the reforms, while insisting that there was still enough time to build a consensus.
In an attempt to appease both camps, he inched closer to flashing a red card against the Building Bridges Initiative Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2020 but left room for an agreement that looks unlikely as the BBI team has already started gathering signatures.
His reservations were on three issues; the content of the BBI report, how the process is being conducted and the timing.
The DP and his allies called for the referendum to be held together with the elections in 2022 so that the money saved can be used to help the economy recover from Covid-19.
They also want a multi-choice referendum to allow Kenyans to vote for clauses they want and reject those they don’t instead of a yes or no vote on the whole document.
Mr Ruto also called for more consensus on various issues among them the appointment of the Judiciary Ombudman, affirmative action, returning the 47 women reps elected to the National Assembly and more proposals in Article 11 to empower pastoralists, farmers and small businesses whom he referred to as the “Hustler Nation”.
The Deputy President however, refused to be drawn directly to questions whether he will lead the “No” campaign if the referendum is held by August next year as planned.
“You know me; I usually take clear positions on issues. But I’m the Deputy President today and I have the interest of every Kenyan at heart,” Dr Ruto said at a presser held at his Karen home in Nairobi where he hosted seven governors and 146 MPs and Senators.
At the meeting, those for and against the BBI clashed openly as the Deputy President looked on. Some of the Tangatanga (a political outfit comprised of the DP’s allies) leaders warned him that regions that support him, especially in Mt Kenya and Rift Valley, have not warmed up to the BBI and backing it outright could mean losing their support.
At one point, an MP from Central faulted the DP for a tweet that the lawmaker said “confused” the “Hustler Movement”, as Dr Ruto’s support base is called.
“That tweet saying that all our issues have been captured in the revised Bomas BBI caused confusion and made it seem as if you are supporting BBI. We got a lot of backlash,” the MP told a pensive DP.
Those urging Dr Ruto to support the document and agree to a referendum next year argued that it will free his resources to focus on 2022 and he could also benefit from some of the positions being created in BBI or use them to woo leaders to his corner.
“They wanted the referendum issue done with and we focus on 2022. This thing is eating too much of our time and if we are not careful, it will eat into our resources,” a senator from the Rift Valley told the gathering.
But anti-BBI forces ventilated that supporting reforms at this time will go against the popular will and alienate a big chunk of voters who are depending on the DP to lead the reforms.
For four hours, the lawmakers went back and forth until the DP intervened and the statement read, bits of which were prepared earlier, was finalised and read out.
The DP also used the event as a show of might, bringing in 146 MPs, seven governors, two former senators and The Service Party (TSP) leader Mwangi Kiunjuri.
Regional leaders read the statement in turn, to show that the decision had backing countrywide.
“Others who are afraid kept off but are with us. They will join at the right time. We believe every time is consensus time,” said Mathira MP Rigathi Gachagua.
The country’s second-in-command whose boss — President Uhuru Kenyatta — and Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party leader Raila Odinga are leading the clamour for constitutional reforms, said that, whereas the Bill was a big improvement from the first BBI report released at the Bomas of Kenya, there were still issues that needed to be improved.
The DP said that, by virtue of his office, he holds the views of many Kenyans and would not be pushed into supporting a yes-or-no contest.
“We submit, therefore, that there still remains room for the ombudsman’s appointment mechanism to be reviewed and agreed upon and for the appointment of the ombudsman by the Judicial Service Commission or the Chief Justice would be more consistent with the principle of judicial independence than appointment by the executive, which runs contrary to the principle of separation of powers,” he said.
While justifying their calls for the plebiscite to be held alongside the 2022 General Election, the DP said: “It is legitimate to question the wisdom of spending Sh14 billion a year before an election that will cost another Sh42 billion (2017 figures), when the referendum could be conducted as a seventh ballot in the General Election at virtually no extra cost.“
He noted that at “Bomas Two”, they opposed the establishment of 70 multi-member constituencies, seeking to move away from a culture of nominations and virtual constituencies.
“We are happy that 70 constituencies have been proposed to enhance representation. While we agree with the principle of equality and equity in representation, IEBC should vary the proposed constituencies by up to 20 percent so as to capture and accommodate the most expansive, arid and largely marginalized areas including Garissa, Nyeri, Wajir, Nyandarua, Kitui, Kisii and Migori,” he said.
He noted that the proposals on affirmative action and equality in representation are important principles and there is a progressive attempt to address them, but insisted that the outcome of the current proposals “is that combined with nominations required to meet the to two-thirds gender rule in accordance with Article 81, the size of parliament will now increase from 416 seats to as high 640”.
“An increase of more than 200 MPs is untenable, and a hugely unsustainable burden on the taxpayer.
“We propose that, in addition to the 47 women elected to the Senate, we bring back the 47 women representatives elected to National Assembly,” he said.
In 2010, Dr Ruto who was the MP for Eldoret North, led the “No” camp and managed 31.45 percent (2,795,059 votes) of the votes against the “Yes” team which garnered 68.55 percent (6,092,593 votes).
The governors who attended the meeting described as tensed were; Jackson Mandago (Uasin Gishu), Josephat Nanok (Turkana), Moses Lenolkulal (Samburu), Stanley Kiptis (Baringo), Prof Paul Chepkwony (Kericho), Hillary Barchok (Bomet) and Stephen Sang (Nandi).
