Nairobi – The High court will today rule on the Building Bridges Initiative’s Constitutional Amendment Bill 2020 that was passed by both the National Assembly and the Senate.
This is after at least seven cases were lodged against the BBI bill that was as a result of the coming together of President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM leader Raila Odinga.
The High Court issued temporary orders barring the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) from subjecting the BBI through a referendum.
Judges Joel Ngugi, George Odunga, Jairus Ngaah, Janet Mulwa and Chacha Mwita in their rulling in February this year, stated that the issue of whether the referendum will be held or not, will be determined after the seven cases were heard and determined.
The National Assembly Thursday last week, voted to pass the BBI Bill where 235 out of 320 Members of Parliament who took part in the second reading of the Bill voted in it’s favour. 83 MP’s voted to reject in while two abstained.
During the Bill’s Third Reading, 224 MPs voted YES, 63 rejected and 2 abstained.
When the Bill was brought to the Senate, 51 Senators voted to pass the Bill, 12 voted NO while 1 abstained.
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The BBI Secretariat on Wednesday however, asked the High Court to consider the mood of Kenyans as it made it’s ruling which stands between the Bill and a referendum.
Co-chairs Junet Mohammed and his counterpart Denis Waweru pleaded with the courts to allow members of the public to have the final say on the proposed constitutional amendments in a national referrendum.
If the court rules in favour of the BBI, the Bill will be forwarded to President Uhuru Kenyatta, who will before assenting to it, request IEBC to conduct a referendum within 90 days.
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