This archive report was first published on 14 June 2020.
On May 29, 2020, Baringo North MP William Cheptumo introduced the Referendum Bill 2020 (No.2), a rival version to the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) backed by President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM leader Raila Odinga.
The alternative bill provides for a competing draft document that will simultaneously be subjected to a vote in a referendum, essentially forcing Parliament to either merge the two initiatives or let them go to the people in one referendum.
According to the Cheptumo bill, if there is a divergent general suggestion in an amendment to the Constitution by popular initiative, the promoters of that initiative shall formulate it into a separate draft bill.
Each of the draft bills shall constitute an option with a separate symbol and answer, allowing Kenyans to have a variety of options where necessary and push for acceptance of referendum as a way of deciding issues that are contentious in the country.
However, Ndaragwa MP Jeremiah Kioni, who introduced the original BBI-backed referendum bill, claims Ruto's allies are acting in bad faith by introducing the new bill just days after his was tabled.
“The fact that they have introduced the Bill after mine is an indication of bad faith. It also indicates the untidiness that needs to be sorted out in Parliament. It is not the first time we are having a similar case,” Kioni said.
On the proposal to have county referendum, Kioni said the Constitution does not have such a provision.
