Kenya Kwanza issue fresh demands after BBI verdict
Mar 30, 2023 - 07:46
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Deputy President William Ruto and ANC leader Musalia Mudavadi (l) during a campaign rally in Lamu County on Thursday, March 31, 2022. |Courtesy| DP William Ruto Twitter|
By Edith. O. Virginia
Kenya Kwanza Alliance leaders led by Deputy President William Ruto and ANC leader Musalia Mudavadi have issued fresh demands after the Supreme Court ruled the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) unconstitutional.
In a press briefing on Friday, April 1, 2022, Mudavadi called for the audit of the BBI taskforce, alleging that taxpayers' money in excess of Ksh10 billion was used in the process.
"We are aware that the Building Bridges Initiative task force spent approximately Ksh10 billion of public money purportedly for collecting public views," Mudavadi stated.
https://youtu.be/F-qvxrUqErE
"Our members at the National Assembly are moving a motion compelling the Auditor General to carry out a forensic audit on all public funds spent in the illegal process from conception to date," he added.
The leaders argued that the money spent on popularising the bill was not approved by parliament.
They insisted that the BBI proponents must be held accountable for dragging members of the public and taxpayers' money through a process that is null and void.
This comes hours after DP Ruto called upon President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM leader Raila Odinga to apologise to Kenyans for dragging them through the tedious Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) process that was declared null and void.Speaking in Lamu County on Thursday, March 31, 2022, during a Kenya KwanzAlliance campaign rally, DP Ruto lauded the Supreme Court for its verdict on the Constitutional Amendment Bill 2020.
According to the second in command, proponents of BBI forced the bill on Kenyans and wasted taxpayers’ money in the process.
“The least we expect from BBI promoters is to apologise to Kenyans for forcing an unconstitutional programme on people and wasting billions of taxpayers’ money,” DP Ruto said.
File image of DP William Ruto campaigning in Eldoret on Saturday, January 8, 2022. |Photo| Courtesy|
He reiterated that the BBI campaign took centre stage during the second term of the Jubilee government, sidetracking the realisation of the Big Four agenda. He noted that Cabinet Secretaries diverted their attention to popularising the bill.
“The inception of this BBI project has affected the implementation of big four agenda projects as government officials were tasked to campaign for the BBI and many resources were channelled to BBI,” DP Ruto added.
The DP was a critic of the BBI process from its inception. The DP, however, was in support of some of the proposals in the bill and proposed that they can be adopted and passed into law separately.
The DP had suggested that some of the proposals be merged with the general elections and Kenyans be allowed to vote on amendments they think will be beneficial to them. The proposal was meant with sharp criticism from proponents of the bill.
While allies of the DP have congratulated the Supreme Court for upholding the ruling by the High and Appellate courts, allies of Odinga and President Kenyatta have maintained that the bill is a dream deferred.
Rarieda Member of Parliament Otiende Amollo yesterday stated that the bill will be revived immediately after the August 9 general elections should Odinga clinch the presidency.
