Punguza Mizigo is a mere flash in the pan; BBI will ensure posterity

The initiative is driven by nothing but the desire to scuttle the BBI initiative which the status quo fears may entrench inclusivity.

To understand why BBI fares much better than the Punguza Mizigo Bill, you need to understand the rationale underlying each effort and then measure its chances of success against the obstacles each faces ahead.

In analyzing all the available information from proponents of this Bill, it is clear their primary rationale is ostensibly to instill financial discipline in government and provide better and more effective management of public resources.

To all intents and purposes, the Punguza Mizigo rationale is sound but it goes off the rails on how it has proposed how to reduce the expenditure. The idea of reducing the number of MPs from 416 to 147 is very exciting. But it is meant to defeat the concept of proportional representation as envisaged by our 2010 constitution. For instance, Nairobi County with a population of over 4m people and Lamu county with a population of slightly over 200,000 people will each have two MPs with equal votes in the National assembly! This is very retrogressive and backward.

 As if these two alone were not enough to bury the Bill alive, the drafters have gone on to provide a laundry list of more than 30 changes to the Constitution, each of which is a nail in the coffin.

The drafters of the Bill may have rightly figured nearly all these provisions are and will be popular among Wanjikus but populism, by itself, is never a means to an end. Put another way, just because something is popular among the masses does not make it desirable if the idea itself does not make sense.

It does not make sense to have 194 MPs, if anything, for the simple reason this will give certain counties immense powers and influence relative to their small populations while diluting the voices of millions in heavily populated counties. That alone would be enough reason to vote down the bill but there is more.

When Uhuru and Raila conscientiously made the Handshake a household name, they made it clear, there and then, that their primary objective is to see the country united and to part ways with the dark past.

BBI was then put in place to implement the Handshake objectives, which are multi-pronged, covering a range of issues from ethnic strife, divisive elections, inclusivity, to corruption, national safety, and shared prosperity.

“Building Bridges” sculptural installation by Italian artist Lorenzo Quinn. Venice is a world heritage city and it is the city of bridges. it is the perfect location to spread a message of world unity and peace so that more of us around the world build bridges with others rather than walls and barriers.’

However, unlike the Punguza Mizigo, which proposes more than 30 amendments, it is likely that the BBI will only propose a handful of provisions to address the most important sickness that ails the country – ethnic strife, divisive elections, and inclusivity. The rest, including the myriad of proposals in Punguza Mizigo Bill that are achievable, can be pursued either administratively or by acts of Parliament.

The drafters of the Punguza Mizigo Bill are counting to ride on the campaign’s populist provisions to victory but this is a miscalculation. Although the Bill has thus far survived court challenges, the mines that lie ahead are such that it will not survive all of them.

The biggest test, of course, will be Parliament where, again, the Bill is drafted in a manner to attract senators’ support but shot down by members of the National Assembly for the simple reason they can’t be asked to sack themselves.

BBI, on the other hand, is carefully and strategically being put together with undoubtedly behind the scenes egging on by the President and Raila Odinga – who, even his worst critic would have to admit he knows a thing or two about how to mount a successful referendum – or kill one – as the case may be more, than anyone in the country

Basically, a BBI referendum is soon upon us and will be a great success to start a new chapter in our beloved country’s history. In fact, it will be a new book!

The Punguza Muzigo, Ongeza Ufisadi initiative must be defeated.

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