Senior Counsel Tom Ojienda now claims that the Supreme Court’s Thursday judgement declaring the Building Bridges Initiative illegal (BBI) opened the door for the process to be restructured under the next administration.
Ojienda believes that the judgement, which he describes as sober, came at the right time in terms of laying the path for constitutional amendment if the bill’s proponents, particularly Raila Odinga, win power in the August 9 elections.
“The Supreme Court has preserved Kenyans, and those who believed reggae was dead were mistaken. On Citizen TV’s Day Break broadcast on Friday, Ojienda said, “Reggae has merely been posed; it is back in the room so that the structure can begin anew.”
“The Supreme Court has truly done a tremendous job for this country because we now have a clean slate; we can alter our constitution and define our destiny,” he added.
According to the judge’s findings on Thursday, the judgement on the four essential structures would be revised anew by the future government while also including compliance with the constitution.
“The courts also exempted Kenyans from the four-stage criteria, which means the entire process will be restarted with vigour.” “It’s time for legislative leaders and those who will be elected to reinvent the will of constitutional reforms and make sure they get it right this time,” he said.
“The court’s decision on the basis structure sanctifies the president’s process; simply take the president out of the equation and follow the process.”
The lawyer, who is also running for the Kisumu Senatorial seat, believes that supporters of the initiative should reintroduce the bill once Odinga succeeds President Kenyatta as the country’s fifth president, because the BBI was intended to benefit Kenyans.
“Now that the path has been cleared, the BBI law should be the new government’s first order of business.” “The BBI should be brought back and amended for the benefit of Kenyans during Raila Odinga’s presidency,” Ojienda stated.
Opondo Kaluma, a Homabay MP who was present on the platform, echoed Ojienda’s thoughts, adding that if Odinga won the president in August, the amendment would be reintroduced.
“Going into the next elections, Raila wins, BBI will come back as BBI or any other name but will still smell sweet for those good things we planned to give Kenyans,” Opondo added, quoting Shakespeare’s “a rose by any name would still smell as sweet.”
“I believe the BBI constitutional amendment will be implemented quickly if it is adopted in the first 100 days of Raila Odinga’s presidency.”
In response to Kenya Kwanza’s critiques of the process, Opondo slammed ANC party head Musalia Mudavadi, accusing him of being completely unaware of the situation.
As a result, he chastised Mudavadi for being conflicted, claiming that he was a main proponent and supporter of the effort.
“I would advise Mudavadi to hire decent lawyers and get politics out of his mind because I see him playing politics with something he doesn’t understand…
Mudavadi was an outspoken supporter of the BBI, and Kenyans, including himself, must be held accountable.” Kaluma remarked.
