- A number of politicians have called for the improvement of the BBI report, especially proposals on the executive.
- Anangwe says Uhuru is tired and just wants to go home while Raila is trying to hang on.
Image: FILE
The Building Bridges Initiative is in a state of lax and may not come to fruition, political scientist Amukowa Anangwe has said.
Prof Anangwe, a former Medical Services minister during President Daniel Moi’s administration, yesterday said President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM leader Raila Odinga were simply playing games on each other about the BBI.
"As far as I'm concerned, President Kenyatta is just buying time with the initiative until it expires naturally and Kenyans lose interest in it," he told the Star on the phone.
He said Raila, on the other hand, still hopes to use the BBI to redeem himself politically and bring in a governance structure that suits his interests.
A number of politicians have been calling for the improvement of the BBI report, especially proposals on the executive.
Raila allies are strategically laying the ground for the initiative ahead of the second phase of public engagement. Siaya Senator James Orengo said ODM was pushing for a referendum by the end June or July so the envisaged reforms can be implemented by 2022.
The second phase is expected to alter the proposals, with an emphasis on the executive structure, which many quarters have dismissed as weak.
Already, two meetings have been planned this month in Nyanza and Western to not only drum up support for the document but also suggest new changes.
Yesterday, Anangwe said Raila hopes to push for an executive prime minister and a president elected by a collegiate to escape being subjected to universal suffrage.
"Deputy President William Ruto and others are standing by the wind to try and see what they can make of it. As to who will have the last laugh, Uhuru will and Raila will be left on the spot," he said.
As to whether the BBI will shape the 2022 race, Anangwe said everyone will be on his own. He said Uhuru "is tired "and just wants to go home, while Raila is trying to hang on the president who has become very slippery by not saying what he wants.
Anangwe dismissed speculations that ANC leader Musalia Mudavadi will join Ruto, insisting that the former deputy PM will be on the ballot come 2022.
"Mudavadi is working with an open mind trying to see whether he can craft a coalition around himself with either Ruto or Uhuru and Raila or both," he said.