President William Ruto's new power tactic signals a change of heart for a man who stood against Azimio leader Raila Odinga's push for constitutional amendment through the Building Bridges Initiative - BBI.
The initiative proposed sweeping changes to the 2010 Constitution after the famous handshake between former President Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila Odinga on March 9, 2018, in a bid to address the issue of “winner takes it all” after elections.
BBI had proposed an expansion to the Executive to create a post of Prime Minister and his two deputies. It also proposed that some Cabinet Secretaries would be appointed from parliament among other things.
The President during the launch of BBI at Bomas of Kenya wondered how the proposal of creating a Prime Minister would answer the inclusivity question when all the appointees will be made by the Head of State.
“The President will appoint the PM and the two deputies from the winning coalition. And then we will have the runners-up being the leader of the opposition. The question I am asking myself is, have we sorted out the winner takes it all question?” Ruto asked.
During the launch, Ruto, who fiercely opposed the initiative, also asked the proponents of the BBI to initiate an open and honest discussion on the question of inclusivity to bring on board the millions of poor and unemployed Kenyans.
However, after winning the August General Election the Head of State appears to heavily borrow Raila’s tactics on BBI in a way to find a formula to reward his close allies, regional and ethnic balance within the Kenya Kwanza coalition.
Firstly, President William Ruto on Tuesday, September 27, nominated Musalia Mudavadi to the position of Prime Cabinet Secretary. During the appointment, the President also noted that Mudavadi’s position will be the most powerful after the Presidency, a position the former Prime Minister Raila Odinga pushed for in the BBI.
According to former United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party vice-chairperson Kipruto Arap Kirwa while appearing on KTN News on Tuesday, October 4 stated that Ruto’s administration is introducing the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) through the backdoor.
“The way I see the current administration of William Ruto is that they are trying to embrace the BBI through the backdoor, they have created the position of the prime minister of course without two deputies, and now they are creating positions of Assistant Ministers calling them CA
The Supreme Court in its landmark ruling had unanimously upheld the High court's decision to declare the BBI unconstitutional, null and void.
However, the president has over time maintained that the focus of Kenya Kwanza is not about sharing positions but on how to improve the lives of millions of Kenyans.
“Our competitors want to change the constitution to create positions for leaders. That can wait as we deal with issues affecting Kenyans and revive the economy. We have agreed to come together, not to share positions,” the President Stated.
