• Proponents not likely to open the bill for major changes, just editorial work.
• BBI seeks to create post of Prime Minister and two deputy prime ministers.
Image: PSCU
The door is closing for politicians, lobby groups and clerics pushing for amendments to the BBI report.
Deputy President William Ruto has led the calls for further changes to the Constitution (Amendment), 2020 bill.
DP Ruto has issues with the place of the Senate, the President appointing Judiciary Ombudsman, the proposed Kenya Police Council chaired by the Interior CS, the election of 47 women senators and political parties appointing IEBC commissioners.
Governors, on their part, want the IEBC devolved to the counties, a pension fund for themselves and county assembly speakers, a senate with veto powers on all bills and deletion of the Ombudsman proposal.
Catholic bishops have said the BBI proposals give the President too much power and are also against the creation of a police council.
The new proposals might, however, come to naught because BBI proponents plan to start collection of signatures next week.
President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM leader Raila Odinga are expected to launch the exercise after a meeting with the Council of Governors on Monday and Woman Representatives as well as MCAs on Tuesday.
After a meeting with Coast leaders at his Capitol Hill office on Friday, Raila announced that the signature collection exercise will be completed within weeks.
“We want it done as quickly as possible so that we hand over the matter to the IEBC and move to the next phase of the referendum,” the former PM said.
As a sign that little will change, Raila said he does not foresee substantive new issues incorporated into the report.
Lawyers Bobby Mkangi and Otiende Amollo (Rarieda MP), experts in constitutional law, say the bill cannot be changed once published and its one million signatures certified by the IEBC. They were both in the Committee of Experts that mid-wifed the 2010 Constitution.
“Once the bill is taken to the IEBC with a million signatures, the (signatures) are indicative of agreement with the proposed bill. Tinkering with the bill would mean changing what the one million signatures agreed with at the presentation to the IEBC,” Mkangi told the Star.
“If there is any tinkering, it has to be before the bill is taken to the IEBC. Even county assemblies cannot change any element of the bill as was the case of the Ekuru Aukot initiative,” he added.
Amollo, for his part, said, “Once it goes to the counties, each county can only either pass it or reject it. There is no room for amendment. The amendment passes through the process as it is.”
“It means a million Kenyans support it so you don’t have authority to amend it. You just either agree with it or not. Then eventually, the test is, do majority of Kenyans also agree with it or not?”
Amollo said that it would be a different story if the proposal doesn’t require a referendum.
"Once published, it is done. You can't change it. You vote for it as it is. This is why we say the promoters must be careful with the proposals," Ndaragwa MP Jeremiah Kioni said. He is also the chairman of the National Assembly Constitution Implementation Oversight Committee.
On Friday, Raila struck a code of urgency, saying the process should be concluded by April next year.
“The issues that were mentioned and were not captured are being added. They are not new issues. That is what we mean by editorial changes,” he said.
BBI proponents also hold that there will be no further amendments to the report beyond the editorial elements referred to by Raila.
National Assembly Minority Leader and Suba South MP John Mbadi said those pushing for further amendments are saboteurs.
“People who are trying to bring issues at this point are saboteurs who are not supportive of this process. Even the issues they are raising cannot make sense,” the ODM chairman said.
“This process was highly consultative. People have talked, forums were held in the 47 counties, and the views of the people were taken. The draft was taken back for validation.”
“Some of the issues are not constitutional, hence can be brought to Parliament by their legislators. I see a lot of misinformation and people who are dishonest. Where we are, let us bite the bullet. Further talk or consultation is a waste of time,” Mbadi said.
During the State of the Nation address on Thursday, President Kenyatta did not indicate whether he will create room for further changes.
“I urge all Kenyans to, constructively and objectively, consider the recommendations therein,” Uhuru said.
“More importantly, let us engage in positive discourse with a view to effecting far-reaching changes to that will address the perennial challenges we have faced as a nation,” he added.
BBI was crafted to drive away negative ethnicity, ensure inclusion, equitable development and fight against corruption.
The Constitution states that any amendments that require a referendum would have to be taken to the people, whether MPs approve the bill or not.
County assemblies have 90 days to dispense of the bill once submitted to them by the IEBC. At least half are expected to support the proposal.
Once done, county assembly speakers are required to communicate the resolution to both speakers of the Senate and the National Assembly.
The Houses are to pass bills not requiring a referendum, and submit the same to the President for assent.
For the changes in the BBI report, the legislation would be taken to the people once approved or rejected by Parliament.
Edited by EKibii