President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM leader Raila Odinga are tomorrow expected to meet governors and MCAs in ongoing efforts to quell rebellion against the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) constitutional reform process.
Governors and MCAs are the most critical plank in the planned constitutional amendments, as at least 24 county assemblies have to pass the BBI Referendum Bill for it to advance to the next stage. If less than 24 counties endorse it, the Bill dies.
The meeting in Naivasha, organised by the Council of Governors, comes barely two weeks after the two leaders rallied more than 300 parliamentarians to drum up support for the document.
“Governors will be at the centre of implementation of this BBI document and therefore we have to sit down with the principals and deliberate on the report and have a common stand on the implementation journey,” CoG Chairman Wycliffe Oparanya told the Nation yesterday.
Tomorrow’s meeting comes amid growing disquiet among politicians, church leaders and other groups over certain proposals in the BBI report.
Some of Deputy President William Ruto’s allies have continued to oppose the report, even hinting at a legal process to enforce consensus. “If certain quarters feel their proposals in the BBI report were ignored, then people will seek redress in courts,” Belgut MP Nelson Koech, an ally of the DP, told the Nation.
“All I am saying is we must be heard and if we won’t we will force one. This country belongs to all of us.”
Cherang’any MP Joshua Kuttuny, who is President Kenyatta’s political ally, dismissed calls for further review of the document, saying it is impossible to have a consensus on matters that have been discussed over the past three years.
“Since the report was launched at Bomas last year, the President gave more time for consultations and put up the BBI steering committee to get more views from Kenyans. We should not sympathise with people who are just out to oppose the BBI process yet they had an opportunity to give their views, but they squandered the chance,” Mr Kuttuny said.
County Assemblies Forum (CAF) Secretary General Kipkirui Chepkwony said while the MCAs’ lobby leadership will attend the Naivasha meeting, the reps will take a common position on the document on Friday.
“We are meeting all the MCAs on Friday to take a common position on the BBI document at the Bomas of Kenya. We have hired a consultant to look at the document and we will have all the MCAs take a joint position thereafter,” Mr Chepkwony said.
A statement by the MCAs’ group last week said they will demand facilitations similar to those accorded to the MPs like increased allowances and additional staff before supporting the BBI process.
They also want the counties to adopt a similar model to the proposed national government structure to allow for the selection of MCAs as county ministers, with CAF saying this should be divided on a 50-50 basis, where the technocrats are chosen by the governors. To sweeten the deal for the ward reps, the BBI team has proposed that wards be considered as the lowest level of planning, for development and budgeting, giving more focus to the electoral units ran by the 1,450 elected MCAs.
For governors and the counties, the BBI team has proposed an increase of allocation of revenues from the current 15 per cent to 35 per cent of the audited national revenue. Nakuru Governor Lee Kinyanjui yesterday said they expect the President and Mr Odinga to address them on the campaign rollout and “we shall take on board the assembly’s concerns . . . the purpose of building bridges must also be demonstrated in the process. It’s not just an end but a means.”
Kisumu’s Anyang’ Nyong’o said governors will look into the report to “ascertain whether the recommendations that they gave have been covered.”
