This archive report was first published on 20 August 2021.
On August 20, 2021, the Court of Appeal dealt President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM party leader Raila Odinga a significant blow by upholding the decision of the High Court to find the Building Bridges Initiative Constitutional Amendment Bill (2020) as unconstitutional.
The judgment, which was heavily critical of President Kenyatta and the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), stated that the BBI Bill was unconstitutional and usurped the people's sovereign power.
The seven-judge bench also issued a permanent injunction restraining the IEBC from processing the Bill or subjecting it to a referendum, effectively blocking the Bill's path to a referendum.
"The popular initiative cannot be used by the government or the people's representatives. Popular initiative is for ordinary Kenyans," said the judges in their ruling.
The process to amend the Constitution through the BBI started in March 2018 following a political truce between the two leaders.
The Court of Appeal President, Daniel Musinga, presided over the appeal ruling on August 20, 2021, in Nairobi.
