Uhuru wanted to succeed himself through BBI Bill - Murkomen

Elgeyo Marakwet Senator Kipchumba Murkomen speaking at a peace meeting on January 20, 2022 [Christopher Kipsang, Standard]

Elgeyo Marakwet Senator Kipchumba Murkomen claims that the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) spearheaded by President Uhuru Kenyatta and his handshake partner Raila Odinga was a ploy by the former to succeed himself.

Speaking today during a radio show on Spice FM, Murkomen criticised the two leaders saying the handshake had nothing to do with bringing Kenyans together but was a way to ensure president Uhuru retained influence in the government even after retiring.

"We were able to read through the game that was being played to ensure the president would have a hand in dictating which candidate Kenyans would elect.

"In fact, the whole BBI process was nothing but a mechanism the president wanted to succeed himself," said Murkomen.

The senator said it would have been more realistic if the president endorsed a member of the Jubilee Party to succeed him or retired silently like his predecessor Mwai Kibaki.

"You have an outgoing president, who is in office at the moment investing State resources to ensure that a certain candidate wins with an expectation of perpetuating his reign beyond 2022," he added.

But responding to the matter that has been widely publicised, Raila Odinga has previously dismissed claims that he is a state project and affirmed to his supporters that he was his own man.

"The assertions are laughable. Can I be someone's project? Uhuru also laughs off when he hears me being referred to as his project," Odinga said in an interview on Citizen TV.

The ODM leader said his desire was to unite all Kenyans.

ANC leader Musalia Mudavadi, who recently formed a coalition with Deputy President William Ruto, questioned the motive behind Uhuru supporting the former prime minister.

“You know the challenges of a project then why impose a project on us? We did so with Ruto and supported Uhuru, (who Moi had publicly declared support for) and we failed terribly,” Mudavadi said.

President Uhuru is serving his last term in office and has hinted at endorsing the former prime minister's candidacy. The two have been working closely since the March 9, 2018 handshake.

Already, the ruling party, Jubilee, has announced it will not field any presidential candidate for the August 9, elections.

The party has called for a National Delegates Conference (NDC) where the president is expected to endorse the Azimio la Umoja movement leader.