BBI, a boon or bane? Only of God shall prevail in eternity

 

Kenya is a democratic state founded on the rule of law, constitutionalism, and respect for human rights.

While I agree that Kenya is yet to fully consolidate her democracy, enough has been done to entrench democratic ideals in the country, such as the promulgation of the new Constitution in 2010.  One of the major tenets of democracy is the independence of a country’s institutions such as – the Judiciary, electoral commission, among others as well as the ability of the country to conduct periodic free and fair elections through a competitive process.

Even though Kenya has made tremendous progress in entrenching democracy as the only ‘rule of the game in town’, it has nevertheless, been faced with an unending cycle of post-election violence every electioneering period.

In March 2018, Opposition leader Raila Odinga and President Uhuru Kenyatta stood on the steps of Harambee House and declared that they were shaking hands to launch a new journey for Kenya. This was to end the violence after another disputed election and the swearing-in of the former Premier Raila as the People's President. The two promised an end to the five-year electoral cycle where we fight each other over voting and the outcome of the presidential elections.

BBI AND THE OWN GOAL

According to the two principals, time had come to put an end to the agents of division who use elections to sow seeds of discord will not be succeeding anymore.

That handshake gave birth to the Building Bridges Initiative and the assumption was that the biggest theme of BBI would be electoral reforms. However, there is no shade of electoral reforms in multiplying constituencies, creating top positions for a few ‘tribal kingpins’ and adding hundreds of affirmative action slots. The problem was always how we manage elections and the aftereffects of the anger from mishandling of elections. For a long time after the handshake, and when former Premier Raila was the only one actually talking about this BBI, his supporters, in frustration, at one point declared that he should let go if President Uhuru Kenyatta was not interested. Then suddenly President Uhuru’s side inexplicably embraced BBI, about two years later, in 2020.

That is where the drama started. From then on, the rumours were always "different from the last document". You will remember the embarrassing spectacle at the signature launch when Raila gave a speech promising reforms in the IEBC, yet that no longer existed in the BBI document. But if electoral reforms no longer formed part of BBI, why were we pushing it forward? More precisely, if elections and management of elections are no longer the priority of BBI, what is so urgent about it that we must do before 2022?

So where was the Building Bridges Initiative in this? How were we building bridges of national relations and electoral reforms by distributing new constituencies? That the High Court singled out the constituency clauses in the BBI bill cannot go unnoticed. Indeed, and they seem to be right, the Bill sought to usurp the powers of the constitutional body mandated to work out the constituency review on a need basis. And if Western Kenya and Northeastern Kenya were to get the least of these constituencies whose bridges were these? If the perennial problem of the country was a skewed system that allocated state resources via a tribal complex that marginalised all others, why would BBI be an enabler of the same? Where are electoral reforms in BBI? Why would President Uhuru Kenyatta arbitrarily appoint a selection panel for IEBC commissioners in the middle of the BBI process, instead of having a more inclusive appointment process enshrined in BBI? Indeed, why would he move on to make IEBC changes on a whim, if their Handshake on March 8, 2018, was borne of a desire to correct the injustices occasioned by poor electoral systems?

THE COURT RULING AND WHAT NEXT 

Our Judiciary has come of age and grown in both jurisprudence and independence. When called upon, the Judiciary of Kenya has made two landmark rulings – the 2017 nullification of President Uhuru’s election and now the Court’s declaration of the BBI process as illegal.

The High Court checkmating the BBI process, and the outcome was all along a process in the making, the only surprise is that it came in form of a thoroughly worked and detailed ruling that will surely be a compulsory textbook for any constitutional law students in the future. But if BBI dies from here on, it will have died after a long battle with greed, bravely borne.

As strictly faithful Muslim. I do not believe in coincidences but rather in the belief of everything happens for a reason. The coincidence of the two landmark rulings in our nation both took place on eve of Eid. The 2017 Chief Justice David Maraga nullification of President Uhuru’s election was Idd al-Adha and the BBI was Idd al-Fitr. Therefore, as a Muslim, I'm bound not to take for granted since God’s revelations are in offing and perhaps, the intervention of bad things to come in the future.

As a law-abiding citizen, I respect the ruling of the Court. Nevertheless, I disagree with the scathing attacks of the Presidency as a person by merely exercising his individual right as a Kenyan. The Presidency is a symbol of national unity and he not only represents the 8 million voters who voted for him but the 50 million-plus Kenyans. The court was wrong to strip him of that power and alluded to him as a lonely man representing his own personal agenda.

The High Court has given Kenyans another opportunity to really find out what they actually wanted to achieve through the BBI process. The Handshake brought calm but BBI fell short of bringing a long-lasting peace. Was it transformative? Well, it was from whichever angle you look at it, but the direction remains a conjecture. Emphasis on governance structure somewhat makes the Bill unpopular. It is unpopular because while health workers were on strike as we worked on BBI, we never addressed their proposed Health Service Commissioned or proper reforms to make the health sector respond to the needs of the populace. It is unpopular because we are approaching a divisive election without an ounce of electoral reform.

I urge my fellow countrymen not to be divided but adhere to the court ruling to help heal the country and move forward together as a nation.   BY THE STAR