This archive report was first published on 1 December 2019.
Published on December 1, 2019, a group of 57 Members of Parliament from the Mt. Kenya region have expressed opposition to the idea of holding a referendum on the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) report.
The lawmakers, led by Embu Senator Njeru Ndegwa, proposed that the BBI report should be passed into law via a parliamentary vote, rather than a referendum.
According to the MPs, holding a referendum would be illogical for the already strained economy of the country, and the budget allocated for the referendum could be better spent on enhancing the agricultural sector.
Embu Senator Njeru Ndegwa stated, 'We strongly hold that any constitutional amendment in relation to BBI report should be parliament led. Our people are already overburdened. Our national resources should be spared from a national referendum.'
The MPs also suggested that if a referendum was necessary, it should be held alongside the 2022 general elections to save on expenditure and time.
They noted that the task force led by Yusuf Haji had already consumed a lot of money, and that the country could ill afford another costly exercise.
Daoreti North MP Simba Arati, however, expressed a different view, stating that the BBI report would not survive if Members of the National Assembly were permitted to vote it in, as DP William Ruto would influence a section of the MPs to reject the report.
