KEY POINTS
- DP William Ruto rejected key proposals in the BBI report
- Ruto has openly campaigned against BBI report putting him at loggerheads with Uhuru
- BBI schedule reveals no room for Ruto’s recommendations to be factored in
Deputy president William Ruto will have to toe the line or faceoff with his boss President Uhuru Kenyatta, because his recommendations for BBI report will not be factored in.
A recently released BBI schedule shows the report will not be subjected to any more reviews.
The packed schedule has 224 days allocated various activities beginning with collection of one million signatures and public outreach which will start immediately and will end on December 2nd.
Then there will be a week to prepare and submit the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill to IEBC. The electoral body will in a month be expected to verify the signatures and within a week, submit the Bill to County Assemblies.
The MCAs will have a month to approve the Bill and MPs will within 45 days vote on the Bill. Parliament will then vote on the Bill.
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) will then have 60 days between April 6th and June 6th 2021 to conduct a referendum.
The process will culminate with President Uhuru assenting to the amendments within seven days, ending on June 14 next year.
The tight BBI schedule means Ruto’s recommendations will not be factored in. During the launch of BBI Report at Bomas of Kenya on October 26, 2020, Ruto cited five proposed changes in the report he said he was uncomfortable with.
The DP said he opposed suggestions to expand the Executive, he opposed the idea that majority and minority parties to nominate two members to the vetting panel of IEBC commissioners, he opposed the proposal to have the President appoint the Judiciary Ombudsman, he opposed what he termed as the ‘politicisation’ of National Police Service rejecting the formation of the Kenya Police Council to be chaired by the Interior Cabinet Secretary, the DP also questioned why the report was proposing to have 47 women elected to the Senate which he said the BBI had downgraded.
