BBI speaks from Purgatory

  • 5 Nov 2021
  • < 1
  • 〜 by Amrit Labhuram

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 to split the senator’s vast home county and create a new county. 

The second was the call by governors to peg the revenue share with the counties for the coming financial year to the proposals in the BBI to have it at 35 per cent rather than the 15 per cent minimum in the Constitution. 

With the case on the BBI likely to be stuck in the courts, at least until the Supreme Court makes its decision, politicians appear to have moved on to other projects, and their own ambitions for next year. 

It is likely that the provisions in the proposed amendments might find a way back under the next administration, and in that case, BBI’s proponents might have the narrative that they helped give birth to an idea, or several ideas.