NAIROBI, Kenya Jan 11 – Murang’a Senator Irungu Kang’ata now says that he wrote the Building Bridges Initiative letter to President Uhuru Kenyatta in good faith and not to disrespect him.
Speaking publicly for the first time after the controversial letter that leaked on New Year’s Eve, Kang’ata said contents of his letter on the status of BBI in Mount Kenya still stands, insisting that the initiative is unpopular in the region.
“We must support the government and ensure that the good work the President is doing is completed but we must also report the truth. These issues were raised in good faith, there is no malice or disrespect but just to ensure that this government succeeds,” Kang’ata said.
President Uhuru Kenyatta has dismissed Kang’ata and his letter as ‘unnecessary lecture’ which “I will not entertain.”
“We believe in democracy, let people keep making the noise they are making and write their letters,” he said on Saturday in Western Kenya during the burial of the mother of Amani National Congress leader Musalia Mudavadi.
Kang’ata’s letter warning that BBI will fail in Central Kenya has sparked debate nationwide, with some leaders accusing him of leaning towards Deputy President William Ruto’s camp which largely opposes it.
Kang’ata also advised Jubilee Party to change its strategy and work with all leaders time the proponents of the BBI worked together with other leaders to ensure the BBU referendum scheduled for June this year succeeds.
“It is appearing that the BBI is a project of one political faction and the impression I got is that our people want the BBI to be an agenda of one united Jubilee family and it should not be weaponized for politics,” he said.
In his letter dated December 30, Kang’ata pointed out that only two in ten people in Central Kenya support the BBI report which is a product of President Kenyatta’s handshake with former Prime Minister Raila Odinga.
Kang’ata said the finding was based on his own personal observations during the Christmas and the New Year holidays.
On Monday, Kang’ata said that if his declaration costs him his Chief Whip position, he will respect the President and the Party’s position.
“I cannot argue with my senior and if it comes to that point, I will have no choice but respect the outcome,” he said.
Kang’ata insists on the need for the President to review the matter of a multi-choice referendum as a solution to avert what he described as a “possible total rejection of the BBI.”
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) kicked off signatures verification last month setting the stage for a national referendum in June.
With Members of Parliament from Mount Kenya region now divided in Kieleweke and Tanga Tanga factions who are affiliated to President Kenyatta and the Deputy President respectively, Kang’ata proposed that for the sake of BBI, there is need to rally all MPs, irrespective of their political factions to support the initiative.
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