•The group led by Lamu West MP Stanley Muthama, National Police Commission chair Eliud Waithaka and Gema Coast region chair Waithaka Macharia, said they are determined to make the residents understand BBI truth.
•The Gema community controls about 250,000 votes in the Coast region
The Gema community living in the Coast has rolled out an elaborate plan to sell the BBI in the region.
They spoke in Nyali on Sunday, after a meeting to deliberate on the best way to conduct civic education on the BBI
The group led by Lamu West MP Stanley Muthama, National Police Service Commission chairman Eliud Waithaka and Gema Coast region chairperson Waithaka Macharian on Sunday said they were determined to make the residents understand BBI truth.
“There are so many people going around cheating residents that BBI is meant to create positions for certain people. I say this is far from the truth,” Muthama said.
He was speaking in Nyali after a meeting to deliberate on the best way to conduct civic education on the BBI.
The three said leaders from other regions were taking advantage of the low literacy levels in the remote parts of the region to plant seeds of distrust among the locals.
“These seeds of distrust are dangerous and are not meant to create peace and stability. Spreading propaganda about the BBI shows that these leaders do not care about the peace we are currently enjoying especially after the handshake,” Muthama said.
Eliud Waithaka said the time had come to separate the BBI truth from the lies.
“We will achieve this if we take time to explain what the BBI is all about and what benefits will accrue from it. Thereafter, the people will make their own decision,” Waithaka said.
He said the Gema community will ensure the BBI copies are made available for all the residents.
Macharia said the BBI is a lasting solution for peace and called on the community members in Central to ensure peace prevails.
The Gema community accounts for about 250,000 votes in the Coast region, Macharia said.
Muthama said they will be moving around the region preaching the BBI gospel so that people understand what the document is all about.
“Right now people are moving around spreading falsehoods in an attempt to demonise the document because in the absence of chaos they do not thrive,” he said.
The MP said they will join hands with all leaders from all the six counties to ensure that they unite with their brothers and sisters in the Coast so that they can move together as one.
The community urged county assemblies to pass the BBI—Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill, 2020.
The bill has already been tabled at the Mombasa county assembly.
Mombasa MCAs, led by Majority chief whip Junior Wambua, said they will ensure the bill is passed.
Muthama said the BBI is meant to ensure people’s businesses thrive because of the peace and tranquillity it will bring, conditions he said were conducive for any business to thrive.
“The BBI says any youth from any community or religion can get employed anywhere in the country without any problem,” he said.
The Kenyan economy will get a great boost because the BBI addresses corruption and offers solutions for the problem.
“There is nowhere in the BBI that targets specific people. It instead brings equity and equality in Kenya to move forward as a country,” the legislator said.
The leaders have so far met with Lamu MCAs as they started their tour of the region last Wednesday.
The MCAs on Saturday met in Mombasa for further deliberations on the bill.
The leaders said with the passing of the BBI, the Coast region will benefit from 10 more constituencies.
This means more money for the Coast region given that each constituency gets Sh100 million in CDF allocations.
The new constituencies will also mean more wards and with the passing of the BBI, there will be a Ward Development Fund created to help wards develop.
“This means apart from the extra Sh1 billion that will come down to the Coast there will be more money in the wards thus increasing the chances of faster growth and development,” Waithaka said.
Edited by Kiilu Damaris