• Everyone has the right to express their opinion concerning the report, she said
• However, the freedom of speech should not be used to preach hate and incite people
Residents of Mt Kenya should not allow the debate around the BBI to divide them, Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru has said.
“Various groups are giving diverse opinions about BBI, but that should not be used as a reason to cause disunity among you,” she said.
The governor was speaking on Friday at Ndia, Kirinyaga county, during the funeral of the county's former director of planning Caroline Wanjiku, who died last week.
BBI campaigns are gaining momentum ahead of an expected referendum, with Deputy President William Ruto and the church among opponents of the proposed amendments.
Rallying behind President Uhuru Kenyatta’s bid to unite the country through the report, Waiguru urged residents to read the document for themselves and pay key attention to voices of reason.
Waiguru said everyone has the right to express their opinion concerning the report but should not abuse the freedom given to preach hate and incite others.
She further called on her political colleagues to lower the 2022 political temperature and wait until the campaign season is declared open.
Regarding the Covid-19 pandemic, the governor appealed to residents to keep observing the government's directives, much as Kirinyga is one of the few counties that have registered a low number of Covid-19 cases.
“To ensure we protect our county’s nursery school children, my government will roll out a plan to put up water tanks in ECD schools," Waiguru said.
"We will also distribute face masks to ECD students to protect them from contracting the disease when they open school next year.”