ODM party leader Raila Odinga said yesterday that there is more than Ksh. 2 billion earmarked for the Building Bridges Initiative vote. Mr. Odinga said that the BBI vote will take place to change the constitution before the next general elections are held in 2022. The former prime minister was speaking at the Chungwa House where he welcomed new members of the ODM Party’s National Elections Board and the National Disciplinary Committee.
During today’s meeting at the Chungwa House, Nairobi, the ODM leader was asked whether the country is prepared to hold both the building bridges initiative vote and the general elections at the same time. In his answer, he dismissed that notion and said that it was practically impossible to accomplish that feat. Mr Odinga said, “If there is a need for a country to hold a referendum, the country does it. It has been done before in European countries, which are civilized democracies. Why do Kenyans not want it?”.
Raila Odinga was referring to the United Kingdom that held a referendum to popularly known as Brexit before departing from the European Union membership. After that referendum, the UK held an election in which Teresa May was elected prime minister in 2016. The Yes side won and the British started all the intricacies of getting out of the EU which took more than 3 years to accomplish after the vote.
“Ask the British. In a short time, they did a referendum and shortly after that, held their general elections. But because of corruption in this country, elections have become an expensive affair. Why are we being told to do it together with the general elections of six ballots and then add one more ballot on top of that, which is a burden to the illiterate voter. It will not work that way”. Said the ODM party leader. Mr. Odinga said he believed the Building Bridges Initiative will be less expensive to conduct as he expects it to cost less than the allocated budget of Ksh. 2 billion.
Mr. Odinga said the Building Bridges Initiative has been going on for more than two years now and that he will soon team with president Uhuru Kenyatta to unveil the final BBI Report that will lay out rules of engagement before a referendum is held. “We are going to receive the BBI Report, myself and President Uhuru Kenyatta. And we will make it public. The BBI Reggae has not stopped, but it is in half time”, Raila Odinga quipped.
While at the Chungwa House meeting, Mr. Odinga took a swipe at deputy president, William Ruto’s comments about the “Deep State’s conspiracy to rig the next presidential elections. “If you are talking about “Deep State”, who is there?”, Raila asked. “It is the president and his deputy. So go and ask William Ruto “which deep state are you referring to?” As ODM, we are not in government and we do not know about the existence of the deep state”, Mr. Odinga added.
During today’s event at the Chungwa House, Florence Omosa, Mumbi Ng’aru, Seth Kakusye, Ramadhani Abubakar, and Ben Sihanya were sworn in as members of the ODM Disciplinary Committee. On the other hand, Syntei Nchoe, Abdulahi Mohammed Diriye, Emily Awita and Richard Tairo were sworn in as new members of the ODM National Elections Board.
Professor Ben Shihanya was entrusted as the chairman of the Disciplinary Committee while Catherine Mumma replaced senator Judy Pareno as the chairperson of the National Elections Board.
What is your take? Do you think Kenya needs a referendum at this time? Do you feel that the ksh. 2 billion should be used to hold this referendum when the country has a foreign debt of more than ksh. 650 billion already? Let us know your views in the comments below.
