A section of professionals and business people from Baringo County have hit out at Deputy President William Ruto’s camp over his stance on the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI).
The professionals, coming under Development Forum (Baringo Chapter), have called on Ruto’s team to support the BBI without pushing for amendments.
They accused Ruto and his allies of working to derail the process by not stating whether or not the document should be subjected to a referendum as it is.
“The mixed signals these leaders are sending to their supporters and Kenyans at large do not bode well for Kenya’s unity. In fact, their proposal that the BBI document should be subjected to a multiple-choice referendum, which should be held together with 2022 General Election, is unrealistic, if not laughable,” said Philip Chingi, a member the professional body.
He added: “Their argument that an additional number of Members of Parliament would be unsustainable and a burden to the taxpayer is dishonest and reeks of political conmanship.”
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On Wednesday, Ruto and leaders allied to him pledged support for the BBI referendum but made demands that put them on a collision course with President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM leader Raila Odinga, the key proponents of the planned constitutional amendments through the BBI.
Using the non-confrontational language of “consensus building and non-contested referendum”, they proposed further changes to the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill 2020.
However, the proposals were rejected by Suna MP Junet Mohamed, the BBI secretariat co-chair. Raila has also since dismissed the proposals, saying the door on changes to the document “is closed.”
