After the death of BBI, the Finance Bill is the next battlefield

Every party took something from the judgement by the Supreme Court that ended the journey for the bid to amend the Constitution that started with the Building Bridges Initiative.    Those opposed to the bid, Deputy President William Ruto and the Kenya Kwanza group, took the

Election Countdown: 129 day to go

Election timelines and activities  Activity Timeline Resignation of public officers intending to vie for elective posts. 9th February, 2022 Political Parties to submit party membership lists to the IEBC. 9th April, 2022. Political parties intending to present candidates in the election to submit the names

BBI speaks from Purgatory

Kenyans were this week reminded of the Building Bridges Initiative in two ways.  The first was the publication of a Bill to amend the Constitution being pushed by Kitui Senator Enoch Wambua. One of the main, and controversial, features of the Bill is the provision

Court of Appeal stops Reggae

Today a seven-member Court of Appeal bench dismissed the BBI appeal. The seven judges are Daniel Musinga, Fatuma Sichale, Gatembu Kairu, Hannah Okwengu, Roselyn Nambuye, Patrick Kiage and Francis Tuiyott. The judges took turns to read their judgments which were upholding the High Court’s decision.

After the BBI debacle, the new Opposition are happy

President Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila Odinga surprised many, their allies especially, when they reached a truce and marked it with The Handshake on the steps of Harambee House on March 9, 2018.  Part of the agreements reached that day were to resolve the issues they

The Appeal done, BBI enters a race against time

The public phase of the appeal against the High Court decision that sought to end the Building Bridges Initiative has ended. There were two days in which the proponents of the Bill to amend the Constitution clothed their bid in the finest clothes, and two

With tough choices made and explained, the President maintains focus

In the week he fired a broadside at the Judiciary, President Uhuru Kenyatta also dared the same arm of Government to what will be a long debate by appointing a section of the 41 judges he had refused to do.  He left out six of

After the disastrous judgement, BBI could be out of time

A week after five judges delivered a scathing verdict of the Building Bridges Initiative, President Uhuru Kenyatta is yet to make a statement on the matter.  There has been plenty of sentiment from the people around him, from what was perceived as a veiled threat

After Parliament, the BBI debate goes to Wanjiku

The Building Bridges Initiative gained more momentum this week with the approval from the Senate of its Bill to amend the Constitution. Proponents of the initiative have been counting their achievements: easily getting four million signatures to support the initiative, getting an overwhelming majority of

BBI faces fresh political and legal headwinds

The desire by President Uhuru Kenyatta and Opposition Leader Raila Odinga to introduce constitutional amendments under the Building Bridges Initiative has run into new headwinds of a political and legal nature. The political ripples have been created by two important moves made by Kakamega Governor

Emerging issues threaten BBI in a real way

Emerging issues threaten BBI in a real way  After a deadlock on whether they can amend the Bill to amend the Constitution, Parliament’s two committees scrutinizing the bid reported a farcical issue that could derail the efforts backed by the Handshake proponents.  Up to 34

With a third wave on, politicians will need to restrain themselves

It has been an interesting week one year since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, with Tanzanian President John Pombe Maghufuli rumoured to have been hospitalized in Nairobi and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga confirmed positive. At the end of the week, President Uhuru Kenyatta

After the BBI whitewash, decision time for the DP

Deputy President William Ruto has had plenty of opportunities this week to think about his next moves after County Assemblies across the country approved the Bill to amend the Constitution prompted by the Building Bridges Initiative. The Tangatanga camp he leads had pegged their hopes

Political quake at the core of Jubilee

The heat in the Jubilee Party has been building up and this week, the beginnings of the end of the vehicle President Uhuru Kenyatta used to win two elections could be seen. It started with a meeting by more than 100 MPs supporting the faction

After Sagana, gains for the BBI

One of the main beneficiaries
of the meeting was the Building
Bridges Initiative, which is
currently being considered by
the county assemblies.

Season of realignments, bad business

Ahead of his meeting with a section of elected representatives from his Mt Kenya region, MPs from the Tangatanga faction of the Jubilee Party wrote a letter of defiance and lamentations to President Uhuru Kenyatta. The letter had been written not only for the President

Unexplained decisions at the IEBC but BBI team remains confident

Anyone who has
been captured
as a supporter
without their
consent can
report to the
Commission by
writing to the
Acting Commission
Secretary/CEO
indicating their
objections.”

BBI: Mwananchi speaks

TIFA Research has conducted a survey on Sentiments in the nation regarding BBI. The TIFA survey was designed and the data collected several weeks before the writing/release of the “letter” authored by Murang’a Senator Irungu Kang’ata on various aspects of the BBI Report and referendum

State of Healthcare in Kenya: Of COVID, Striking medics and BBI

On Wednesday, the Employment and Labour Court ordered striking health workers to temporarily resume work. The Kenya Union of Clinical Officers (KUCO) officials however claim that the court order does not apply to the ongoing strike, stating that it is in regards to a strike

What is in the latest BBI Bill?

On the 25th of November, 2020, a newer version of the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill, 2020 was published by the Government Printers.  The object of this Bill according to its promoters, is to amend the Constitution of Kenya 2010 to address issues arising from

Beyond Ruto’s issues, BBI needs more verve

Deputy President William Ruto thrives in contests. He was in the winning team that rejected the draft Constitution in 2005, used the No movement to build his influence and political mobilization in 2010 and has revelled in taking on rivals at the General Elections in

Proposed administrative reforms under the BBI

The BBI Taskforce Report posits that a majority of Kenyans want things done differently. It highlights many factors that impede the implementation of administrative action such as: Negative attitude/ lethargy/ poor behaviour within the public service; Systems that are created to fail; Inadequate funding Lack

Two weeks later, one brother remains on course, two wondering

As President Uhuru Kenyatta gathered proponents of the Building Bridges Initiative to launch the collection of signatures, his deputy took to his new favourite medium of communication, Twitter. “Even with the SIGNATURE launch there is still a real chance at CONSENSUS for a NON-DIVISIVE referendum

BBI at a glance: Uniting Kenya through legal and policy reforms

The Steering Committee on the implementation of the Building Bridges Initiative made recommendations on the implementation of the Report, which are structured in the following thematic areas: Constitutional; Legislative; Policy; and Administrative. Proposed Constitutional Reforms Chapter Two on formative aspects of the Republic. This chapter

Highlights of policy reforms proposed in the BBI report

The Steering Committee made Policy Reforms proposals to effectively implement the recommendations in the BBI report. The Committee was not able to develop the multiple policies, so they developed a set of doctrines as well as policy intervention guides for each identified priority policy area.

With postponements, BBI buys the president time

Mr Ruto and his
supporters appear
to have succeeded
in confusing the
pro-BBI team: they
have continuously
poked holes in
the report and its
recommendations
and Mr Ruto

A LOOK AT THE PROPOSED BBI LEGISLATIVE REFORMS

The Building Bridges Steering Committee made recommendations on the implementation of the Report and they drafted several amendment bills. Herein below we provide a brief summary of the laws proposed for amendments and analysis of the same:  1.The Public Finance Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2020 The Public Finance Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2020

What next for the Building Bridges Initiative? The road to a referendum.

In our estimation, the soonest the BBI Bill will be back to Parliament is June 2021. With General Elections scheduled for 2022, elected leaders will already be in campaign mode and BBI is likely to be second priority for those whose priority will be to be re-elected.

The next race for the BBI

Changes to the Constitution via Parliament mean
that there must be consensus before the Bill
is published, as it cannot be amended as it
goes through the legislative pipeline. Its
proponents must be prepared for the 180
days – six months – there are between the
first and the second and the second and the third
readings of a Bill to amend the Constitution.