Tuju lays out case for BBI, urges MPs to pass Bill

Jubilee party secretary-general Raphael Tuju has made a case for the proposed constitutional changes, saying the Bill will address the challenges the country has grappled with for years.

Appearing before the joint Justice and Legal Affairs Committees in Parliament on Thursday, Tuju appealed to the House to pass the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill, 2020.

While narrating the history of the Handshake, Tuju said the truce which birthed BBI has brought peace after the divisive and chaotic elections in 2017.

"We have had divisive elections in 2017, 2013 and several years dating back in 1992," he said.

The SG said the BBI proposals will arrest the perennial chaos and polarisation of the country every election cycle.

"Any attempt, however modest, to address this issue of polarisation every five years, we have to support," he said.

In addition, Tuju said that proposals to address youth unemployment through the creation of the Youth Commission will help address the problem of joblessness in the country.

"Unless we put a mechanism to ensure we address this issue of the bulge in youth population, then our county will be unsustainable," he said.

He said the BBI has crafted a mechanism to achieve the two-thirds gender principle that Parliament has struggled to devise.

The SG said the proposed Constitutional changes will address the corruption menace which has held the country back for years.

Tuju was accompanied by Jubilee chairman Nelson Nduzya and other top officials of the ruling party.