President Uhuru Kenyatta files personal appeal against BBI ruling

President Uhuru Kenyatta has taken action after a ruling by a five-judge bench nullified the Building Bridges Initiative Constitutional Amendment Bill 2020.

According to a report by Daily Nation, President Kenyatta filed the appeal through his lawyer Waweru Gatonye.

In his notice of appeal, President Kenyatta criticizes the court's decision on nine grounds.

The president is contesting a High Court ruling that he can be prosecuted in his own capacity rather than as President of Kenya.

President Uhuru Kenyatta and Opposition Leader Raila Odinga receiving the final BBI Report Pulse Live Kenya

"The judges proceeded to hear and determine a matter against H.E. Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta without ensuring that personal service had been effected upon him," reads the document.

The president also plans to appeal a ruling declaring the Steering Committee on the Implementation of the Building Bridges to a United Kenya Taskforce Report to be an unconstitutional organization.

Five-bench judge ruling.

In its ruling the five-judge bench criticised that the head of state was not allowed to initiate a constitutional amendment through public initiative.

They said President Kenyatta had breached the constitution by launching a procedure that could have been initiated by ordinary people in a four-hour televised decision.

The judges also ruled that the BBI Committee, a body created by the president, was illegal, adding that Uhuru had failed the leadership and integrity test.

Political pundits argue that the head of state could be angling for an appeal in his private capacity due to the direct attacks from the judges.

However, others countered that as President, he cannot make such actions in his personal capacity.

Attorney General Paul Kihara has also filed an appeal against the ruling.

IEBC

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) also joined in the appeal.

The commission challenged the judges’ ruling on lack of quorum, insufficient voter registration, verification of signatures and public participation.

The bench ruled that IEBC could only legally operate with a quorum of five commissioners, stating that although the Constitution set the quorum for the commission to three, Parliament increased the minimum number of commissioners at IEBC to five.