Ruto's tough demands set stage for battle with Uhuru, Raila

Deputy President William Ruto has set the stage for a showdown with President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM leader Raila Odinga by issuing  tough conditions to back the BBI referendum.

Flanked by scores of MPs, he claimed there were 146, and a host of governors to demonstrate his clout, Ruto called for radical amendments to the already published BBI Bill.

The DP and his troops are also demanding the referendum be held alongside the 2022 General Election. Political observers see calling for a dual vote as a tactic to oppose the plebiscite.

"Ruto is preparing his soldiers for a No campaign. He knows the demands are absolutely too late...The Constitution provides that where a Bill has been published for amending a constitution, it cannot be amended," National Assembly Chief Whip Emmanual Wangwe told the Star.

ANC leader Musalia Mudavadi accused Ruto of taking Kenyans in circles and failing to provide leadership.

"The suggestion to conduct a multiple question referendum is unrealistic. Even in the UK with high literacy levels, during [Brexit] referendum  the choice was simply yes or no," Mudavadi said. 

In a lengthy press conference, the DP and his troops fell just short of declaring Uhuru a reckless President. They said he pushed through a referendum amid a pandemic and a struggling economy, which they said was on the "verge of full-scale collapse".

“It is legitimate  to question the wisdom of expending Sh14 billion a year before an election that will cost another Sh42 billion [2017 figures], when the referendum could be conducted as a seventh ballot in the General Election at virtually no extra cost.

"We believe it is prudent to hold the referendum along with the General Election in 2022,” they declared in a joint press statement.

However, the DP's tough demands are unlikely to be met by Uhuru and Raila who last week launched the BBI signature collection process. A showdown is looming.

The Ruto team said Kenyans want the focus on the BBI redirected to “runaway corruption, heightened political intolerance, the securitisation of public affairs, as well as impunity and the flagrant disobedience of court orders by the Executive”.

As the second in command, Ruto's blistering attack on his own government has further exposed the inside wars within the Jubilee administration.

The Ruto team has set out five irreducible minimums that must be addressed before a public vote.

First, the polls must be held at the same time.

Also, they insist on having a multiple-choice referendum as opposed to a single-question plebiscite, review of the appointment mechanism of Judiciary ombudsman and the restoration of 47 woman representatives elected to National Assembly.

They also want IEBC given leeway to vary 70 additional constituencies by as much as 20 per cent.

Having multiple questions as opposed to a Yes or No  vote means Kenyans can reject some proposals that Uhuru and Raila say are central to the handshake deal.

While the BBI proposal fronted the removal of woman representatives, the DP’s faction proposes bringing back the 47 woman representatives to have 94 elected women in both houses.

This, he said, will allow for the elected women in the National Assembly to be nominated to the Cabinet as opposed to BBI proposal that sends them to the Senate.

Ruto and his allies said that as currently framed, the BBI proposals will increase the size of Parliament from  416 seats to as many as 640. 

"An increase of more than 200 MPs is untenable and a hugely unsustainable  burden on the taxpayer," they stated.

The DP  argues  is proposal on the composition of Parliament will reduce the nominated MPs by at least 60 members by having more members elected by citizens.

The DP's side also wants the BBI Bill to be amended to give the Independent and Electoral Boundaries Commission leeway to vary the proposed 70 constituencies by as much as 20 per cent

This, he said, will capture and accommodate the most expansive, arid and largely marginalised areas including Garissa, Nyeri, Wajir, Nyandarua, Kitui, Kisii and Migori.

Raila has maintained that the referendum train has left the station and the collection of at least one million valid signatures is expected to be concluded by Friday.

The DP termed as reckless the push by the BBI proponents that those opposed to the BBI Bill proceed and mount a parallel No campaign since the door for any amendments had been shut.

“There are people who are saying it is too late. What is the crisis, what is the problem? This is our country. If the proposals we are making today are reasonable, all it will require is to republish the Bill and we will go to the referendum,” Ruto said.

The DP said the ongoing process for signature collection is just the "easy part" of the whole process, insisting  the elephant in the room was format of the vote on the contents.

The DP said the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill, 2020 should be recalled and amended to accommodate a raft of proposals that he said would eliminate a personality-driven referendum.

However, the DP's push for a multiple choice referendum faces an uphill task as Uhuru and Raila's allies are pushing for a Yes or No referendum.

The Justice and Legal Affairs Committee and the Constitution Implementation Oversight Committee - both dominated and led by pro-BBI forces - are said to have overturned an initial proposal for a multiple-choice referendum.

Ruto maintained, however, the MPs had assured him there was a possibility of the House crafting a legal framework that would give Kenyans an opportunity to vote on each clause of the Bill.

“We have as a team here agreed that we will support the proposal by CIOC in Parliament to provide a mechanism in the referendum so that Kenyans can vote for issues and not have just a Yes or No referendum,” Ruto said.

He added: “There are Kenyans who have no issue with the 35 per cent going to the counties and will vote Yes. But there is a Kenyan who has a problem with the Judiciary Ombudsman and wants to vote No. Why do we force a Kenyan to vote for something he doesn't want or vote against something he wants?”

The DP's battle for multiple-choice questions in a referendum would now head to Parliament where his troops have clear instructions to shoot down any attempts to legislate a Yes or No referendum.

Ruto said unlike the 2010 Constitution in which Kenyans were asked to vote Yes or No on the promulgation of the new constitution, an amendment to the Supreme law - like the one by BBI - must provide choices for each clause.

“We know there is a way we can make this referendum a win-win. We we know there is a way we can accommodate everybody, there is a way we can remove this referendum from being a win-lose. There is a mechanism that can allow us to vote on issues instead of the personalisation of the referendum,” Ruto said.

The DP said the BBI Bill, which was published on November 23, can be recalled to address the contentious issues before Kenyans can be allowed to go for a referendum.

“Even at Bomas we were told the window is closed. But we insisted it is never too late to do the right thing. Unless you are telling us that the issues we raise are not reasonable, then all it will take is to republish the Bill,” Ruto said.

The DP Insisted that it would be against the spirit of the Building Bridges Initiative if the door is shut on other people's views before the referendum, adding that BBI means reaching out to the other side.

“There is nobody who will resist what is right. The people on the other side are reasonable people, they are intelligent. That is the way they  took suggestions of other people after the Bomas, even after they said the document would not be changed,” Ruto said.

(Edited by V. Graham)