No Kenyan should be left out in BBI process

The referendum is for Kenyans. The people asking for further deliberations on the BBI report are Kenyans. With that in mind, I opine that giving Kenyans even one more month to propose further amendments to the document would do no harm.

Remember the BBI team completed its work and waited for three months before they handed over their report to President Uhuru Kenyatta and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga. It is the two who took time to receive the document.

The BBI is a question about amending the 2010 Constitution, the supreme law of the land that informs the governance structure of the country. It is the supreme law that will guide all Kenyans for some fairly long time to come. It could even be the next 20 years before other amendments could be entertained.

So, if there is an opportunity to look at that draft some more, even for a very small period of time, whether it is the next one month, there will be no harm.

With the responsibility that comes with statesmanship that Uhuru and Raila hold, it must not be up to them to determine the urgency of the moment. They should not say there is no time to entertain any additions in the BBI report and that the process must be expedited because a referendum should be held before the General Elections.

The General Election, the referendum and the Constitution are for all Kenyans. It must not look like there are a few people who can determine what goes into the BBI report and what should be left out.

Uhuru and Raila do not have the sole rights to determine a reform process for Kenyans. Well, Uhuru is the Head of State but it is not up to him entirely; it should be up to Kenyans. If he is conscious about inclusivity and prosperity, no Kenyan should be left out.

The Constitution is being amended for prosperity. We, therefore, need to demonstrate that we have the interest to prosper by allowing all Kenyans to come together to build the future.

Javas Bigambo, a governance specialist, spoke to the Star