NAIROBI, Kenya Nov 27 – Amani National Congress (ANC) party leader Musalia Mudavadi has pledged to campaign for the Building Bridges Initiative (Amendment) Bill, 2020 that sets in motion a possible referendum next year.
Mudavadi said he will run parallel campaigns to popularize the document after some of the contentious issues which were captured in the initial report were amended.
“ANC party now supports the BBI process and urges all Kenyans to come together and participate in this process with a view to having a smooth and basically a non-contested referendum,” he said.
According to Mudavadi, the final BBI Bill which was unveiled by President Uhuru Kenyatta and his handshake partner Raila Odinga on Wednesday is an improved version that has the interest of Kenyans.
“We want to announce that ANC will be forming its own platform of popularizing the document because we want to have a discussion with the people without unnecessary political noise,” he said.
Mudavadi said he was particularly pleased that the clause which would have given political parties power in the appointment of commissioners of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) was deleted.
He also cited the removal of a proposal to establish a national police council headed by the Security Cabinet Secretary and the amendment to have the office of the Judiciary Ombudsman to be a presidential appointee upon vetting and approval by the Senate was timely.
Kakamega Senator Cleophas Malala and Lugari MP Ayub Savula who are party members also vowed to rally their constituents in appending their signatures to the document which seeks to change the country’s governance structure.
“The dark cloud that has been hanging precariously above us has now been cleared and therefore it is our responsibility us members of ANC and elected leaders to now traverse this country and popularize this document,” Malala said.
