Vice president William Ruto has been pushing for multiple question in the BBI referendum and now has suffered a massive blow after all the MP’s have made deals to block the quest. This happened right after the MPs all rallied with one another and deleted the provision that were put forward by the Justice and Legal affairs committee. JLAC and the Constitution Implementation Oversight Committee unanimously agreed that there would be no referendum options.
Minority leader John Mbadi has supported the move by stating that “We know how our polling stations are structured or how they are. We need to at least put some systems, where those who are supporting, those who are taking similar stand on a Bill state whether it is yes or no, Those who are taking similar stand need to find a way of coming together not necessarily to take responsibility but for ease of conducting a referendum. Otherwise, you would definitely cause a lot of confusion in the process.”
Amollo said it would mean that anyone who wants to counter the BBI must follow the process, not latch on an ongoing initiative. But Kilifi North MP Owen Baya termed the proposal selfish and meant to serve the interests of the politicians of the day. Baya went on to state that “This referendum should not be seen to be for this BBI nonsense. Laws should be made for posterity. I am not going to support a bill that has selfish and narrow interests. Members of Parliament who have vested interests in this bill should keep them aside, I will personally reject a bill that does not entrench all aspects of the conduct of the referendum, if it does not buttress what is in the IEBC Act.”
Majority Leader Amos Kimunya however did not feel the same he stated that “We cannot make a law for a certain Bill or process. We can only make a law for any process that is initiated by any person.” The other MPs seem to agree with this.
