Uhuru’s Central Role Blamed by Judges in BBI Death Amid Small Wins

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The Supreme Court has dealt the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) the final blow, albeit, largely disagreed with judgments of the High Court and the Court of Appeal.

Judges Martha Koome, Philomena Mwilu, Mohamed Ibrahim, Njoki Ndungu, Isaac Lenaola, Smokin Wanjala, and William Ouko were hearing the case which had been appealed by the Attorney General and the electoral commission.

The AG was unsatisfied with the verdicts that declared BBI null and avoid while the electoral agency contested that it was not properly constituted while verifying signatures before subjecting the process to a referendum.

Almost all the judges agreed that the commission did not break any law.

However, four of the seven justices were of the view that the Constitutional (Amendment) Bill, 2020 failed the test because President Uhuru Kenyatta was involved.

Koome, Ouko, Mwilu and Wanjala ruled that the President is not an ordinary citizen, therefore, he cannot initiate constitutional reforms through the popular drive.

“The president cannot initiate an amendment to the constitution through popular initiative. He cannot run with the hare and hunt with the hounds,” Ouko said.

Lenaola argued that while the President cannot intimate constitutional amendments, he was not the promoter of BBI.

Interestingly, only Njoki disagreed with the judgment of the lower courts entirely.

She also defended the Head of State, arguing that he is a Kenyan elected by Kenyans, hence, he should not be barred from launching a drive to change the law.

On the basic structure issue, the majority of the judges declared that it is not applicable in Kenya.

At the same time, President Kenyatta was handed lifeline after the judges ruled that he cannot be subjected to civil court proceedings while still in office.

On whether the BBI went through sufficient public participation, they argued that the Bill met the constitutional threshold.

The post Uhuru’s Central Role Blamed by Judges in BBI Death Amid Small Wins appeared first on LitKenya.

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