The Building Bridges Initiative referendum trainers in Embu have accused MPs from the county of peddling lies about the initiative in a church.
Led by BBI chairman Jerevasio Nyombyokothe, the trainers castigated John Muchiri (Manyatta), Geoffrey Kingangi (Mbeere South) and Sicily Mbarire (nominated) for claiming that residents have not been given copies of the BBI document, hence do not know what it entails.
The politicians had spoken during a requiem mass for Cardinal John Njue’s sister Jonnes Wakinyua on January 6 at Kairuri Catholic Church. The mass was attended by Deputy President William Ruto, who said he would have nothing to do with the BBI.
But Nyombyokothe said the BBI team in Embu has conducted training and distributed booklets across all the five subcounties and on social media sites. He said the legislators also misled the public that the signatures presented to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission from Embu were uploaded from M-Pesa shops and that people from the area do not support the proposed constitutional amendments.
Nyombyokothe, who was also accompanied by BBI secretary John Kathangu, lamented that the elected leaders have been against the BBI, which was born out of the handshake between President Uhuru Kenyatta and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga.
The duo said the elected leaders should be at the forefront of advocating the BBI agenda instead of skipping scheduled BBI meetings all the time for selfish reasons. They spoke during a press conference at Tangie Hotel in Embu town.
Nyombyokothe urged politicians that instead of criticising and belittling the effort being put by the team, they should also come on board and help in spreading the "good message of the BBI" by downloading copies of the report using their smartphones and distributing them to residents.
Kathangu said the elected leaders should play their role as the mouthpiece of society in giving the true report on the BBI rather than criticising the whole process. He also dismissed claims that BBI signatures were sourced from M-Pesa outlets. He said it would be useless to get signatures from M-Pesa agents.
Kathangu also cautioned residents against relying on fake reports, citing the recent opinion poll findings released by Tifa. He said pollsters give results that favour those who hire or fund them.
He appealed to residents to be patient and wait for the outcome of the referendum to know the actual facts on the ground.
