President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM leader Raila Odinga are set to launch the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) Bill on Thursday, officially setting in motion the referendum push.
This is happening even as the duo added more names to the new secretariat and steering committee that are taking over from the team led by Garissa Senator Yusuf Haji and Prof Adams Oloo.
The National Assembly Minority Whip Junet Mohamed and former Dagoreti South MP Denis Waweru will now co-chair the technical steering committee in what has seen names of Ms Nancy Gitau and ODM executive director Oduor Ong’wen withdrawn, as they will now be charged with backroom operations and strategy.
The Thursday event to be held at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre will also be attended by new regional co-ordinators from across the country. Key players in the political arena supportive of the BBI have equally been invited with those who have voiced reservations left out.
Previously, pressure from DP William Ruto’s camp saw Ms Gitau quietly leave her official role at the President’s office after the Jubilee administration came into power. She had also served as the adviser to the retired President Mwai Kibaki. But Ms Gitau continued working in the background and is among those credited with crafting President Kenyatta’s re-election campaign.
Kisii Woman rep Janet Ong’era and Ms Sara Kilemi, the wife of former Education assistant minister Kilemi Mwiria, have been charged will heading the secretariat located on Denis Pritt Road, next to the State House.
The launch, which comes as it emerged that the changes demanded by many stakeholders such as the Catholic bishops and DP Ruto, may not see the light of day. This may open further a war front that could energise the ‘No’ camp.
“Fundamentally, the document does not change, save for editorial and a few minor changes here and there. The principals agreed on the final document on Friday and we are now at the implementation stage. We’re under firm instruction not to engage the reverse gear as time is of essence,” a source close to one of the principals told us yesterday.
DP Ruto and his foot soldiers have been demanding that the report be opened for fresh scrutiny and remove some ‘offending’ clauses. The other camp has, however, been quick to remind them that they squandered their chance to appear before the steering committee when it was collecting views from the public.
“We reached out to the DP, and even offered to go wherever he was so he could give his views but he declined after initially indicating he would host us,” a ranking member of the moribund committee told the Sunday Nation.
“To give the President the power to appoint the prime minister and two deputies risks consolidating more power and creating an imperial president. This will create the same problem BBI set out to solve,” the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops chairman Phillip Anyolo said.
Insiders opine the DP will not have a structured secretariat if his demands to amend the BBI report are not met. Instead, he will be going to churches over the weekends and addressing wananchi in the nearby towns and returning to the city. His handlers say he is not keen on the results of the referendum and that if he is on the winning side, it will be a bonus.
It suffices to mention that leading the ‘No’ side to victory would be very significant for the DP, as it not only gives him the momentum to ride to State House but also accords him a chance to test his campaign machinery ahead of the General Election.
Mr Waweru said the BBI train had left the station and that on Thursday, the President and Mr Odinga will be rallying the country to back it to cure ‘the many ills’ the country suffers.
“The secretariat is up and running. After the Thursday launch, we will embark on signature collection to ensure that the task is accomplished within the stipulated timelines. The President and former prime minister are committed to this project that seeks to unite the country,” the chairman said.
On Friday, Mr Odinga said that this week is important in the referendum calendar.
“We will launch the signature collection sometime next week. We want that exercise to be done as soon as possible so that the matter can be handed over to the electoral commission so that we move towards the next step,” Mr Odinga said.
Other than regional linchpins such as Kanu chairman Gideon Moi, Wiper party leader Kalonzo Musyoka, his ANC counterpart Musalia Mudavadi and former Bomet Governor Isaac Ruto of Chama cha Mashinani, there are new entrants to help with the referendum campaigns.
While Mombasa Governor Hasan Joho, his Kilifi counterpart Amason Kingi and nominated Senator Agnes Zani have been tasked with mobilising support in the larger Coast region, former Kisauni MP Rashid Bedzimba will join them .
In Nyanza, ODM treasurer Timothy Bosire, Mr Bob Madanje, the head of protocol in Kisumu county government, will be teaming up with Interior CS Fred Matiang’i in the push to amend the constitution.
Mr Odinga was last evening scheduled to meet regional co-ordinators from Nyanza and Western at Ciala Resort in Kisumu to finalise preparations for the Thursday launch.
Mr Odinga will also be separately meeting Woman reps and Speakers of county assemblies as well as those from Parliament Ken Lusaka (Senate) and Justin Muturi (National Assembly) this week to lay the groundwork for the Referendum Bill.
In Central Kenya, former Mathira MP Peter Weru will also be joining the likes of Senate Majority Whip Irungu Kang’ata, Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru and others in playing the lead role towards the referendum.
In Western, Mr Nabii Nabwera, who also worked in Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya’s office in his first term, will be joining the chosen few in a high stakes chess game that promises to redraw the country’s electoral map in 2022.
But even as the BBI team prepares to hit the ground running, Mr Kenyatta and Mr Odinga have a herculean task ahead as the latest situational report by the National Intelligence Service, which suggests a growing resistance to the referendum.
The rising cost of living and growing voices of dissent by some of the opinion leaders are the main drivers of the lukewarm support or rejection.
So far, DP Ruto and the church are the strongest critics of the document and the economic hardship made worse by the Covid-19 pandemic is working in their favour.
The President and Mr Odinga, however, hope to ride on their support base and the state machinery to deliver a successful referendum.
Were they to be beaten, Mr Kenyatta would not be the first sitting Head of State to lose a referendum. President Mwai Kibaki lost to the Orange side in 2005 when the Wako Draft was rejected by the voters, setting stage for an acrimonious General Election in 2007 that ended up in a coalition government led by President Kibaki and Mr Odinga as prime minister.
Mr Odinga led the ‘No’ camp in what saw him get the sack from the Cabinet, alongside other fellow ministers.
