BBI rejection blocked Gen Z's entry into leadership, says Kioni
Politics
By
Denis Omondi
| Apr 02, 2026
Jubilee Deputy Party Leader Jeremiah Kioni during an interview on Spice FM on April 2, 2026. [Screengrab]
Jubilee Deputy Party Leader Jeremiah Kioni says Kenya's youth lost their closest shot at the country's top leadership with the rejection of the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI), pushed by former President Uhuru Kenyatta and the late Raila Odinga.
Speaking on Spice FM on Thursday, April 2, Kioni argued that the current winner-takes-all system raises the stakes so high that young aspiring leaders will likely continue to be locked out, as older politicians leverage ethnic influence to negotiate slots.
"The unfortunate thing about our governance structure is that it doesn't open up to the youth bulge into leadership. BBI was opening the space. If it passed in 2022, it would have been much easier for a Gen Z now to get into power," he said.
"They would have been able to bargain for a proper seat and say, for instance, they want a Deputy Prime Minister position, or even the Deputy President, considering the constituency they have," he added.
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Jeremiah Kioni: If we passed the BBI, it would have been much easier for a Gen Z to get into power.
Hosts:@nduokoh & @dennisaseto
Producer:@EverlyneMungai#TheSituationRoom pic.twitter.com/qqR4RTftDV — SpiceFM (@SpiceFMKE) April 2, 2026
The constitutional amendment drive launched in 2020 proposed a hybrid presidential-parliamentary executive that would have created the offices of a Prime Minister, two deputies, and an official Leader of the Opposition.
After two years of public engagements, the courts ruled that President Kenyatta had erred by initiating constitutional reforms through the popular initiative pathway, hence declaring it unconstitutional.
Despite that, Kioni still says youth will be a deciding factor in 2027.
According to him, the ongoing Tuko Kadi voter registration mobilisation drive reflects a generation's disillusionment with a political class they feel has repeatedly betrayed both them and their parents.
However, he cautioned politicians against co-opting the movement, warning that doing so risks undermining the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission's (IEBC) target of adding more than six million new voters to its register.
"I personally resist the urge to jump on the Tuko Kadi trend. Gen Z tends to move away when you invade their space. I would like to plead with politicians to leave the movement to them," he said.