President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM leader Raila Odinga have managed to reel in their troops in preparations for the looming referendum.
The president’s wing in Jubilee Party, ODM, Kalonzo Musyoka’s Wiper Democratic Movement, Musalia Mudavadi’s Amani National Congress, Moses Wetang’ula’s Ford-Kenya, and Gideon Moi’s Kanu are already reading from the same script and are pledging support for the Building Bridges Initiative, which many see as the vehicle to the referendum.
A united front bringing together these key political parties could start a wave that eventually installs a leader at State House in 2022.
Daily Nation that this clearest indication yet of how the referendum question could read was revealed last week when women leaders under the Embrace movement stated that the Executive needs to be expanded to include the position of a prime minister and two deputies.
The publication further claimed that insiders close to the president informed them that the president and the former prime minister plan to use the mas support they have to Marshall for the referendum.
This information comes at a time when Deputy President William Ruto and his allies have been accused of being lukewarm to the BBI.
Ruto is on record telling the pro-BBI team and the Ekuru Aukot-led Punguza Mizigo to
agree on the changes they want before he can take a stand on the referendum.
It is not clear whether the Deputy President will back the BBI recommendations or launch an
the onslaught against them.
Should he go against the proposals, he will create a counter-wave against his boss, as well as against his political nemesis Odinga.
Jubilee Party secretary-general Raphael Tuju noted that the party was fully behind the BBI, which he revealed was an initiative of the Government, “so it’s a little bit stretching for us to have an initiative by the government and our party leader and be preoccupied in any way with a parallel
the initiative” referring to the Punguza Mizigo Bill.
ODM secretary-general Edwin Sifuna claimed it was only by coincidence that other parties were
sharing similar views on the looming referendum, “so the support is not choreographed”.
Ford-Kenya’s Eseli Simiyu said “there were more tranquillity and unity in the country during the
Grand Coalition regime of Mwai Kibaki and Odinga because everybody felt involved in the
government”.
A similar grouping in 2005 created a formidable force in the run-up to the 2007 General Elections
