• BBI hardliners have prevailed upon President Uhuru Kenyatta and his handshake partner Raila Odinga to slam the door to any new proposals.
• Various groups could be locked out once the bill is published.
Image: PSCU
The bill to amend the Constitution through the Building Bridges Initiative could be published by Monday next week.
The gazettement could dash hopes for groups pushing for amendments to the report.
Sources say political hardliners in the BBI camp may have told President Uhuru Kenyatta and his handshake partner Raila Odinga to slam the door to any new proposal.
The publication of the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill, 2020, would guarantee strict adherence to the June 2021 referendum timeliness unveiled in Naivasha last week.
The Star has established that Uhuru and Raila have yielded to the pressure from their allies and okayed the publication of the bill in a few days.
“The Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill, 2020 will be with the government printer and we expected it to be published by Friday or latest Monday,” said a source at the presidency aware of the plans.
Another senior official at the State Department of Justice and the office of the Attorney General Kihara Kariuki told the Star that the bill could leave the AG's office 'soonest' for printing.
“Actually the polishing and the re-framing of the bill has been going on for some days now and from what I have seen, it is about clearing and forwarding,” the official, who sought anonymity, said.
Once published, the bill will be the basis for collecting one million signatures to support it to be submitted to the electoral commission.
The law bars the promoters of a referendum from amending any part of the bill once supporters append their signatures.
However, this would be unlikely given the tough positions taken by the BBI proponents who have said the document will not be changed and will be submitted to the referendum as a package.
Uhuru and Raila are cautious about opening up the document for significant reviews, except editorial cleaning up, to avoid fundamentally altering its objectives.
Once the bill is published, promoters of the initiative will start collecting signatures, which according to the Uhuru and Raila's referendum timeline, should be completed by December 2.
Millions of signature booklets and campaign merchandise are said to have been produced and are locked up in an office within Runda area belonging to one of Uhuru's strategists.
There are fears that opening up the report to include new proposals could open the floodgates for a string of other proposals.
Efforts to build consensus among key groups seeking a revision of the report could have run into headwinds due to radical proposals being advanced.
Various groups, among them governors, women, MCAs, pastoralists, the church, labour unions and political leaders, say the report should be reviewed to address their concerns.
Deputy President William Ruto, ANC leader Musalia Mudavadi and TSP leader Mwangi Kiunjuri are some of the political leaders who have said they have reservations on the BBI bill that should be addressed.
Governors who met at Enashipai Resort in Naivasha, on Tuesday proposed at least 10 amendments to the report including, demands for pensions and retirement package.
The demands, as well as those by MCAs, both of whom are key players in a referendum process, became the latest of parallel views being raised by various groups.
On Wednesday, Nominated MP Maina Kamanda told the Star that the document will be subjected to the referendum for Kenyans to make a decision without delay.
“It is not a joke. The document was finalised and there is no room for any new amendments. We are ready to kick off the signature collection process any time from next week,” Kamanda said.
Ex-Starehe MP who is a key figure in the pro-BBI team said those opposed to the process can as well start their own process to amend the Constitution so that Kenyans can make a decision at the ballot,” he said.
Lawyer Paul Mwangi, joint secretary to the BBI task force team, suggested that the document would not be amended to included new proposals.
“The content is not open for amendments as the prime minister Raila Odinga said,” Mwangi said.
He said the issues raised by groups like the pastoralists communities do not seek to propose totally new ideas but work on the phrasing and language to include them.
“For example, when we used the term agriculture, the pastoralists feel that they are left out. It is about the message and its interpretation that would be dealt with,” Mwangi said.
Raila had on Monday indicated that the BBI report was open for amendments from various groups but was forced to swiftly swallow his words a day later and clarified that no significant changes will be made.
“There is little chance of significant new ideas being brought into the document ahead of the referendum, except for editorial work to make it explicit on demands by various groups where it sounds vague or general, as is the case with issues of pastoralists,” he said.
“However, some groups feel that their views were not captured in the manner they were presented. Those are the corrections we promise to make.”