IEBC releases format for BBI signature collection

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission on Tuesday released the BBI signature collection format.

In a letter to the Building Bridges Initiative secretariat IEBC Chairman Wafula Chebukati said the commission has approved the proposed format for collection of signatures in support of a Constitution Amendment.

This was a response to a letter the secretariat had sent to the IEBC on November 18, seeking approval of the proposed format.

In response, Chebukati said, "The commission takes note of your request for guidance as well as approval of your proposed format and provides to you the approved format that should be used for the collection of signatures."

"To enable the voter verification process and to ensure completeness of the supporter' records, all the field in the said approved format /template should be duly filled as provided."

The BBI secretariat said on Monday that it will collect one million signatures within seven days.

Addressing a press conference in Nairobi on Tuesday, co-chairs of the BBI secretariat Dennis Waweru and Junet Mohamed said the collection of the signatures will be launched on Wednesday at KICC.

Waweru said from KICC, the BBI train will move to all the 47 counties.

"We now call upon all Kenyans of goodwill, those who want to see an end to corruption, ethnic antagonism, marginalisation of sections of society, the empowerment of youth, women and disabled to board the BBI train," Waweru said in a statement he read on behalf of the secretariat.

Junet said the Constitution Amendment Bill 2020 that had initially stalled the start of a collection of the one million signatures pre-requisite to amend the Supreme law through the popular initiative is now ready.

"Ours is to oversee this process to the next level. After collection of the signatures," he said

Last week, the BBI signature collection exercise was postponed.

In a statement on Wednesday, the national secretariat said the postponement

was occasioned by late completion and publication of the Constitution Amendment Bill 2020.