Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria appeared to have changed his stand on the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) after he said that it will be passed by all 47 counties.
Kuria, who was reacting to the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) move to approve Sh4.5 Billion car grants for Members of County Assembly, said - tongue-in-cheek - that Kenyans should only pass BBI when they had been given a car.
"I congratulate our MCAs and SRC for reaching an amicable solution on the car grant as part of the BBI settlement. Now it's all clear the BBI will pass in the 47 counties then we move to parliament then to Wananchi. It is your chance dear voter to at least own a Probox as part of this settlement," Kuria said, sarcastically, on a Facebook post.
The MP has opposed the initiative in the past arguing that leaders pushing for constitutional amendments through the BBI Initiative were 'being set up for political self-destruction'. To prove his point, the MP referred to an incident where Deputy Governor Maina Kamau was dismissed during a public address when he started talking about BBI.
"On matters BBI, there is no alternative to dialogue and consensus-building. There has to be humility and a spirit of give and take. Do Nothing is not an option. Business-as-usual attitude will yield even more resistance. I sympathize with those being sent to sell BBI on the ground with the current hostile environment," said Kuria.
Kuria has previously urged Kenyans to reject the referendum as it was only a mission for the government to elect certain leaders.
"I totally agree with the President that we should separate 2022 politics from BBI. However, it is clear the President has his preferred line up for 2022. This line up does not include his deputy William Ruto nor most of us irritants and nobodies who voted for him thrice to be President. This is all fair game."
"What we need is a level playing field and mutual respect between the two teams. Using a BBI sensitization event to campaign for the preferred line up of intruders and lampoon the other team that largely put the President in power is the politicisation of the very BBI process which the President is preaching against," he added.
President Uhuru's promise to help MCAs get a Ksh4.5 billion car facility was welcomed by the MPs who promised to support the BBI Referendum Bill 2020.
The fate of the BBI now lies in the hands of the County Governments whose approval will push the referendum to be implemented.
Nakuru County Governor Lee Kinyanjui recently cited Kuria for inciting Kenyans against the government and for unfairly condemning President Uhuru's administration. He said Kuria should instead use his position to advocate for reforms through legislation.
