• President Kenyatta and ODM leader Raila extended term of BBI team to refine report into an implementable document.
• Initial document recommends a raft of measures, including expanding of the Executive to include a weak Prime Minister.
Image: COURTESY
Politics will largely revolve around constitutional amendment as the Building Bridges Initiative task force starts the second round of public participation.
President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM leader Raila Odinga extended the term of the team led by Garissa Senator Yusuf Haji by 18 months to refine the report into an implementable document.
The initial document recommended a raft of measures, including the expansion of the Executive, to include a weak Prime Minister to realise the elusive equity.
The political battles will likely be around the method of implementing the report, possibly triggering political realignments ahead of the 2022 General Election.
Camps will likely emerge with those advocating for the popular initiative route ganging up against those opposed to a referendum.
Deputy President William Ruto and his allies in Tangatanga have been opposed to a referendum and have pushed for the parliamentary route to implement the report.
However, the Kieleweke wing of Jubilee and Raila’s ODM have maintained that BBI was a people-driven initiative and its implementation should be through a plebiscite.
“BBI being a political process has implications for 2022 and its implications are being felt right now. That is why Jubilee is split. It is being used to reorganise the space,” lawyer Steve Ogolla observes.
Ogolla says politicians will exploit the fertile environment provided by the BBI to form alliances as the country gears up for the 2022 polls.
“Former TNA wing of Jubilee can strike a deal with the Orange party by ODM producing a presidential candidate and the DP. Or they can give Jubilee another chance and take the running mate," he says.
University don and political commentator Macharia Munene says while the handshake has managed to reduce temperatures, the tone is likely to increase in 2022.
Munene said perceived proponents of the BBI birthed by the handshake between Raila and Uhuru will likely turn the initiative into a political party.
“There is a possibility that as it is right now and given the past record of parties, coalitions and movements in Kenya, we shouldn’t be surprised if BBI becomes a party,” he said.
Giving an analogy of how ODM was formed–from the Orange Movement that opposed the 2005 draft constitution–Macharia says Kieleweke will likely team up with ODM to defeat the DP.
"That is how ODM started. It was just a movement and it had everybody in it," he notes.
University of Nairobi lecturer Herman Manyora says the intention of Raila and Uhuru in their handshake and the BBI will be clearer in 2022 as the task force trims the report.
“The handshake and BBI are a political infrastructure assembled by Uhuru and Raila to enable them to get state power in 2022. How can they do these things they want to do without state power?” he said.
Martin Andati, an analyst, observes that implementation of the BBI report will alter the political landscape of the country in 2020 and beyond.
“Ultimately, if they implement the findings, they will change the political landscape completely because those opposed to it will form their camp and those for it will also have theirs,” he opines.
Edited by R.Wamochie