Stop BBI signature drive and improve healthcare, Uhuru told

                       The BBI signature collection drive is nothing but a Covid-19 spreader that should be stopped, a lobby group has said.

Muslims for Human Rights on Wednesday said all the money allocated for the drive, including the Sh14 billion earmarked for the referendum, should be redirected to improve healthcare, protect frontline workers and the vulnerable and offer health cover for all.

“The collection of signatures can wait, our lives cannot. We can succumb to Covid-19 infection. It is not the time for political machinations,” Muhuri chairman Khelef Khalifa said.

The BBI signature collection launch at the KICC in Nairobi on Wednesday was presided over by President Uhuru Kenyatta and his handshake partner Raila Odinga.

Deputy President William Ruto skipped the event.

Khalifa said the country is in a critical moment in the war against the virus and Kenyans cannot ask for more but a drastic scaling down of all mass in-person activities until the virus is under control.

Although the Building Bridges Initiative national secretariat said they will follow Covid-19 guidelines to minimise virus spread, Khalifa noted there have been instances of infections even after precautions were taken.

The human rights defender said there was no guarantee the secretariat would avoid spreading Covid-19.

“As the secretariat was making its announcement, coronavirus infections were spiking in the country— over 1,392 deaths, more than 77,000 positive cases.

“The signature collection will involve in-person contacts, the primary way through which the virus spreads,” Khalifa said.

Muhuri said the country’s healthcare system is weak, with medics striking or threatening to down tools and the intensive care units full.

“Many more Covid-19 patients are dying waiting for oxygen supply. And this is not to mention dozens of deaths from Covid-19 of medical workers, our first line of defence,” Khalifa said.

“What will happen to the mass of people who will get infected during the drive? Patients will have no cover to pay for their medical bills; the critically ill will have no ICU beds, most are full.

“In short: the government will leave you to die. Die on your own because they will not protect you or pay NHIF cover,” Khalifa said.

In justifying their objective, the BBI secretariat cited the urgency in ending corruption, ethnic antagonism, marginalisation, as well as rooting for the empowerment of the youth, women and disabled, to whip up support for signature collection.

However, Muhuri said a referendum is not needed to achieve this.

The constitution, as is, can best attain the desired goals, Khalifa said.

He said the process that led to the proposed constitutional changes is illegal and was not a popular initiative.

“It was a plot by President Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila Odinga who have no authority to amend the law,” he said.

He called on the government and other stakeholders to implement the Constitution.

Edited by Henry Makori