- Experts should be availed to take wananchi through the document in an open and simple manner
- Political leaders for and against the document are taking advantage of the lack of knowledge by the populace to drive what suits them
The Building Bridges Initiative train is currently at the county level where the assemblies are expected to adopt or reject the Bill.
However before this, the county assemblies are supposed to conduct public participation forums.
So far the Siaya, Kisumu and Homa Bay county assemblies have passed the Bill. Saddening however is the way the public participation was conducted. This was rushed and was merely a cosmetic exercise.
The counties should organise the forums in all the subcounties; these should be well publicised to ensure maximum participation.
While the public is not expected to make any changes at this time, experts should be availed to take wananchi through the document in an open and simple manner to help them make an informed choice if the document ends up at a referendum.
Failure by the counties to conduct proper public participation, then the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission should be mandated to carry out civic education ahead of the planned referendum.
At the moment there are so many truths, half-truths and outright lies about the contents of the BBI Bill.
Political leaders for and against the document are taking advantage of the lack of knowledge by the populace to drive what suits them.
An empowered electorate is able to form informed decisions and it is upon the county assemblies or the IEBC to ensure this is done.
Quote of the Day: You can't serve the public good without truth as a bottom line.
Carl Bernstein
The American investigative reporter who covered Watergate for the Washington Post was born on February 14, 1944