President Uhuru Kenyatta has for the first time broken his silence after the Court of Appeal ruling that declared the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) unconstitutional.
The Courts have been highly misguided- Uhuru breaks silence on BBI Ruling
The Courts have been highly misguided- President Uhuru on BBI Ruling
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Speaking on Citizen TV, Kenyatta said that he believes that the 7-judge appellate bench that made the ruling was highly misguided.
On August 20, the judge bench, in a majority judgment, declared the Building Bridges Initiative sponsored constitution amendment Bill 2020 unconstitutional. The judges also barred the IEBC from conducting any referendum on the Bill.
The Head of State noted that BBI was not a personal agenda but an initiative meant to brining Kenyans together and ensure Kenya remains a peaceful country even after elections.
Uhuru also quashed reports that BBI was out to propel his handshake partner Raila Odinga to presidency.
President Uhuru Kenyatta Speaks
“BBI is not personal for me, I am grateful for the opportunity to serve. Part of my agenda is to bring people together & maintain a peaceful, stable, united country. The courts have been highly misguided on that process, it is not a competition issue”
“It was not about who was going to be president and who was not going to be president…but I also believe that this is part of my agenda to be able to bring people together and ensure that we have a peaceful, stable, united Country and that's why I was very knee on this.
Unfortunately, the Courts have ruled the way they have ruled and I believe that they have been highly misguided in that process, we have diverted from why we wanted the BBI to it being an issue of competition…some saying this BBI was to propel Raila Odinga. Odinga declared his candidature without BBI and he is still on the Ballot," said President Uhuru Kenyatta.
President Kenyatta’s statement comes days after Odinga also commented on the Court of Appeal ruling regarding the legality of the Building Bridges Initiative.
Raila Odinga's full statement
"The decision of the Court of Appeal today is remarkable as it forms part of the continuing conversation on the future of this country and the significance of our new Constitution to the political culture we and the generations that will come after us will practice.
It is likely that this is not the end of the conversation and the parties involved will each make their own decisions on how to proceed from the decision that has been delivered today. That is welcome , as the issues involved need to be deliberated upon to the fullest extent.
For us , as we have stated before, we shall engage only to the extent that circumstances will require. But we feel that we have to move on".
This is not an indication of our regard to this noble initiative. Far from that, we feel that we must now see the forest for the trees, and pursue the bigger goal of setting the rest of the issues facing this country right.
The Building Bridges Initiative was never a destination but a journey in an ever evolving way of life. Without doubt, we shall deal with all the issues in the months and years that will unfold onwards"
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