UPDATE: Senate Majority Chief Whip Irungu Kang'ata acknowledged that the letter he addressed to President Uhuru Kenyatta was legit and that he authored it. However, he denied leaking it to the media.
"Kindly though, the letter dated December 30 (2020) is authentic. I didn't give it to the media. Someone else who had been copied did. I apologise for that.
"With the benefit of hindsight, I should have copied no one else. Trust substantive issues raised in the letter will be remedied," he tweeted on Monday, January 4.
Earlier on, a letter from his office and bearing his signature quoted Kang'ata distancing himself from the controversial letter alleging that it was fake. The statement sent to all newsrooms indicated that the Senator denied any knowledge of the letter and argued that it was a ploy devised by his opponents to discredit him and the BBI process.
The Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) Secretariat Co-Chairman Junet Mohamed on Monday, January 4 hit out at Senate Majority Chief Whip Irungu Kang’ata over a leaked letter addressed to President Uhuru Kenyatta.
This comes after Kang’ata revealed that a survey conducted by his office established the BBI's unpopularity in the Mount Kenya region, hampering the chances of a referendum sailing through in the region.
Junet questioned the timing of Kang'ata's poll as the public were engaged in festivities and noted that the opinion is based on his claims.
"I don’t come from that area (Mount Kenya) so I cannot confirm what (Mr) Kang’ata is saying but this is the gospel according to Kang’ata. He may have his own opinion but I don’t know when Kang’ata became a pollster in this country.
"The last time I checked, he was Majority Whip in the Senate but today we are seeing Kang’ata who is a pollster and who can go and commission an opinion poll within the Christmas period," said Junet.
The Suna East MP insisted that the BBI secretariat is currently engaged in the verification of the signatures collected in November and December 2020.
He becomes the highest-ranking official in the BBI team to respond to the letter which has been widely circulated since its release on Sunday, January 3rd.
Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) began the process of signature verification on Thursday, December 31 to get one million credible signatures and meet the constitutional threshold.
In the letter to Uhuru, Kang'ata warned that the provincial administration's role in the BBI process was contributing to its unpopularity.
"The role of the provincial administration & other forms of hard tactics in BBI mobilization is being framed as an example of government using its hard power to force citizens to endorse BBI. I propose we find ways of government wears velvet gloves."
"Based on a survey I conducted during the December 2020 holidays, I have to the conclusion, BBI is unpopular in Mt Kenya... Out of every 10 persons I surveyed, six opposed it, two support it, and two others are indifferent," his letter read in part.
The Central Organization of Trade Unions, Kenya (COTU) Secretary General Francis Atwoli on Monday opined that the BBI would sail through despite Kang'ata's letter.
