President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM leader Raila Odinga skipped a meeting of governors on Tuesday, amid reports they are reluctant on further talks that could substantively alter the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) report.
The President and Mr Odinga had on November 2 met largely pro-BBI MPs in Naivasha for talks, which resolved a referendum on the proposed constitutional changes be held by June.
It was widely expected the two leaders would attend the governors’ meeting in Naivasha on November 10, but while their spokespersons insist they had no such plans, their allies have declared they snubbed the forum so as not to entertain its demands.
After the meeting, governors demanded shelving of the proposal to create a Judiciary ombudsman and another compelling a candidate for governorship to name a deputy of the opposite gender. They also pushed for elevation of the Senate to upper House, among others.
The State’s refusal to authorise a meeting of members of county assemblies (MCAs) planned in Nairobi on Friday, which a close ally of Mr Odinga had indicated the President and the former Prime Minister had planned to attend, signalled the apparent clamping down on groups pushing to amend the report.
A surge in Covid-19 infections was cited by the Interior ministry for declining the request by the County Assemblies Forum (CAF) to hold the special annual general meeting at the Bomas of Kenya.
However, it was expected the meeting would endorse new demands given that the CAF wants MCAs accorded powers like MPs, including eligibility for appointment to county Cabinets and a specific percentage of county revenue set aside for the proposed ward development fund.
Mr Odinga had met governors in Nairobi on November 5, a day after their extraordinary summit, for discussions “on the BBI process and their perspective on the way forward” but their meeting in Naivasha on November 10 was an even bigger forum because it included representatives of CAF.
Counties are crucial on the road to the referendum because the draft Constitutional (Amendment) Bill requires the support of majority counties (24) to be submitted to Parliament.
But while the MPs’ vote on the Bill is immaterial -- it would still be submitted to a popular vote even if Parliament rejected it -- failure to garner the backing of majority of counties would kill the campaign.
Given the central role by counties, governors are instrumental to campaigns due to their deep political networks, one would have expected the two leaders to consider attending a meeting by governors and MCAs.
Mr Kenyatta and Mr Odinga’s allies yesterday told the Nation that audience with each group with its demands will lead to an endless cycle that will only delay the process further.
Nyeri Town MP Ngunjiri Wambugu claimed the Head of State and former Prime Minister kept off the Naivasha meeting because they are not ready to engage in a conversation on opening up the BBI report.
“The duo does not want to meet interest groups to discuss how to open up the BBI process for additional ideas and suggestions. This is what the governors wanted,” said Mr Wambugu.
“I personally agree with the two principals. We must end the process of collecting views at some point and I am glad we have. We must now allow Kenyans to decide on what is there,” he added.
National Assembly Minority Leader John Mbadi declared fresh ideas would not be allowed, lest they compromise the report.
“New ideas cannot be entertained now, on what basis? The steering committee had validated the report and this was after consulting, you cannot just come up with an idea to be contained into the report from nowhere,” said Mr Mbadi, who is also the ODM chairman.
The Suba South MP added: “What needs to be done is to check some inconsistencies or editorial issues for clarity but you cannot just bring fresh ideas into this report. It cannot work, that is expecting too much. Again, a document like this cannot please 47 million Kenyans, even me who is a proponent of BBI, I have some issues with it, but I know when they are factored in, it will not augur well with another group.”
Mr Wambugu said views that were not captured by the Senator Yusuf Haji-led committee can be pursued through amendments outside the BBI process.
“The views not covered under BBI can be presented by those pushing for them as proposed amendments outside BBI,” he said.
But State House spokesperson Kanze Dena dismissed suggestions that the President had snubbed the meeting of governors and MCAs in Naivasha.
Ms Dena argued there was no official communication that the President was to attend the meeting and termed such reports a ‘media creation’.
“If there is any event that the President is going to attend, it is communicated through our official portal. Was the one in Naivasha communicated through our portal? Please, let us stick to what is official,” said Ms Dena.
Mr Odinga’s spokesperson Dennis Onyango also said the Naivasha meeting was not in the former Prime Minister’s itinerary.
“Who said both the President and Mr Odinga were to attend? It was not in our diary,” Mr Onyango told the Nation.
Senate Majority Whip Irungu Kang’ata, however, said the President had skipped the meeting because he was commissioning commuter trains in Nairobi.
“The President was engaged in Nairobi opening the new railway passenger terminal. He was busy serving the country and wellbeing of all Kenyans. On the BBI dissenters, the President is a listening and caring leader. He respects freedom of speech and expression of thoughts,” said Mr Kang’ata.
Mr Mbadi, however, said the initial plan of both the President and the ODM chief was to meet the MCAs in Nairobi on Thursday.
“The two principals were to meet MCAs on Thursday but by Wednesday, they had not received an invitation, probably because of the State of the Nation address,” said Mr Mbadi.
However, the Interior ministry announced the cancellation of the meeting on Wednesday, citing Covid-19 and the conflicting accounts suggest there is more political intrigue than being acknowledged officially.
Governors who met at Enashipai Resort in Naivasha on Tuesday proposed at least 10 radical amendments to the report.
They joined a growing list of leaders and groups making new demands including Deputy President William Ruto, lawmakers from Mt Kenya region, Amani National Congress (ANC) leader Musalia Mudavadi, The Service Party (TSP) boss Mwangi Kiunjuri, women leaders, ward representatives, pastoralists and labour unions.
Yesterday, Catholic bishops also called for further scrutiny of the BBI report, citing four contested issues touching on the Executive, Parliament, elections and the independence of police.
The Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB) cautioned against the reintroduction of an imperial presidency by giving the president powers to appoint the prime minister and his two deputies, and criticised a proposed Kenya Police Council chaired by a Cabinet secretary, which they said would compromise the independence of the police.
The bishops also warned against a proposal to have political parties appoint members to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission and protested additional seats in Parliament.
The Council of Governors, in a statement read by chairman Wycliffe Oparanya, demanded retirement packages for governors, deputy governors, county assembly speakers and ward representatives.
“They should be entitled to a monthly pension equal to eight per cent of their current salary,” Mr Oparanya said.
“They should also get a lump sum payment on retirement, calculated as a sum equal to one-year salary.”
Other retirement perks proposed by the group are a saloon car with an engine capacity not exceeding 2000cc “which shall be replaced every four years,” a four-wheel drive vehicle of an engine capacity not exceeding 3000cc replaceable every four years; and a fuel allowance equal to 15 per cent of current monthly salary.
The governor also said Mr Odinga had attended the meeting virtually and promised them that their proposals would be factored in the report.
But Cherang’any MP Joshua Kutuny and Kanu Secretary General Nick Salat claimed governors and ward reps were only keen to scuttle the BBI process.
“The issues the governors are raising, there was a programme on validation of the report. The task force went to all counties, there were opportunities for some of those groups to come up with their proposals,” said Mr Kutuny.
“They are hypocrites to come up with such ideas now. Most of these things happened in the counties and they had enough time for those issues but we cannot rule them out because we need governors and MCAs, they are major stakeholders,” Mr Kutuny added.
“Just weeks ago, those who were meeting in Naivasha were at Bomas and accepted the report. They have decided to support it during the day but oppose it at night. Time is of the essence, if we do not follow time, they might take advantage of that to delay this process and by the time we are supposed to vote on it, it will be too late,” said Mr Salat.
He added that the two leaders are alive to machinations to delay the BBI implementation. “They are making sure there is no outside influence to try and frustrate the report. You realise that some people initially did not take part in it and are now pushing to be part of a document they initially frustrated from day one. I think it scared the two principals who want to ensure that there is no one delaying this report when they have never participated in it.”
