NAIROBI, Kenya Dec 12 — President Uhuru Kenyatta has defended the Building Bridges Initiatives Constitutional Amendment saying that it bears the spirit of inclusion intended to cure political exclusion and enhance devolution.
In remarks during the Jamhuri Day celebrations, President Kenyatta said the handshake between himself and ODM Leader Raila Odinga was necessary as a first step to national healing and constitutional alignment.
President Kenyatta said the post-election deaths that accompany every election is a sign of constitutional moment and urged Kenyans not to be prisoners of the current law but be ready to change it for the better.
“My question to the nation is therefore this: What is wrong with trying to fix such anomalies? If Kenyans are not made to serve the Constitution; but the Constitution is made to serve Kenyans, why imprison ourselves with models that are not working? Why run an election for 123 days, with potential to have it extend to one year if the results are nullified repeatedly?”
“And why drain 1 trillion shillings in losses or an equivalent of one billion shillings every working hour electing a leader for 123 days?” he asked 5,000 invited guests who were allowed to attend this year’s fete held at the Nyayo National Stadium in Nairobi.
The Head of State noted that the BBI was construed as the possible next step towards reinforcing our nationhood.
“The ‘handshake’ was a temporary solution to a long-term search. Our joint intention was to have BBI provide us with a roadmap to a long-term solution. And even then, this solution was not to become an end in itself. It was meant to be a continuous work-in-progress,” he continued, “and if this ‘handshake’ endures, I anticipate it will become our New Normal and many future BBIs and ‘handshakes’ will continue to refine our nationhood and ensure that we dwell in unity, peace and liberty.”
He conceded that the BBI is not a one size fits all that promises to settle all the constitutional questions through a singular amendment but it is the start of a continuous process.
“Even our Founding Fathers had to freeze certain thorny questions at independence, in the hope that subsequent constitution-making processes would resolve them.”
“BBI will not resolve all our constitutional grievances of the day. It is just a First Amendment to the 2010 Constitution. It only attempts to make the 2010 Constitution better. And as we improve on it, we must remember that there will be a Second Amendment, a Third Amendment and many more as our young nation continues to grow,” he said.