• A section of senators and members of the national assembly have picked holes in the bill and have been pushing for its amendment.
• The lot has termed some provisions of the bill as unconstitutional and recommended removal of the sections.
Image: COURTESY
President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM boss Raila Odinga on Wednesday asked parliamentarians to pass the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill, 2020.
In a thinly veiled attack on the legislators opposed to the Bill, the Handshake partners told the lawmakers to put aside their political differences and stand by their countrymen by passing the bill.
“This is not the time for political adversity nor for personal aggrandizement. This is the time to listen to the people and to remember that it is their soverenity we exercise as their servants,” a statement signed by the two leaders and sent to newsrooms read in part.
The statement comes in the wake of calls by a section of senators and members of the national assembly to amend the bill.
The lot has termed some provisions of the BBI sponsored bill as unconstitutional and recommended removal of the sections.
In the Senate, at least three senators have written to Speaker Ken Lusaka recommending a raft of amendments to realign the bill and remove offensive the clauses.
While Lusaka is yet to pronounce himself on the clamour to tinker with the Bill, his counterpart in the National Assembly Justin Muturi on Tuesday ruled out any possibility of changing the bill.
He said the bill was developed through a popular initiative and that parliament has no mandate to interfere with the aspirations of the promoters.
The two houses resume debate on the bill on Thursday with a vote likely to be taken by next week.
On Wednesday, Uhuru and Raila told the legislators to uphold the hopes and aspirations of the more than three million Kenyans who supported the bill, 44 county assemblies that passed it and other Kenyans who participated in various forums.
“We are asking them to stand up with their countrymen in charting a non-partisan and selfless way forward for all of us,” they said.
They added that the bill has undergone through all the stages provided for in the Constitution with Parliament now the stage remaining before the document is taken to the people in a referendum.
They said that after the vote, this Bill shall go directly to the people to confirm that ‘indeed they are satisfied that we have been listening to them as they talk.’
They asked the legislators to be faithful servants that they were elected to be.
“The Building Bridges Initiative which we set up soon after the Handshake has been one of the avenues we have used to bring Kenyans together to courageously face their challenges and formulate and implement corrective measures,” they said.