Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) kick-started the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) referendum process amid an ongoing legal battle at the Court of Appeal.
On Wednesday, July 14, the IEBC placed an advertisement in the local dailies calling on merchants to forward their tender applications to supply ballot papers for the general election and the Referendum.
The electoral agency, in the advertisement, asked traders to forward their applications via email to the procurement department.
"IEBC invites sealed tenders for the Supply and Delivery of ballot papers; Register of Voters; Statutory Election Result Declaration Forms to be used to the polling station," the advertisement read in part.
"Election and referendum result declaration forms to be used at the constituency, county and national tallying centre on a three-year framework contract," it continued.
This placement in the dailies indicated that the electoral agency is preparing to hold the BBI Referendum even though the Appellate Court has not read its verdict on the matter after the High Court declared the process null and void.
During the hearing of the BBI appeal case, lawyer Christian Andole asked the seven-judge bench hearing the case to compel President Uhuru Kenyatta to refund taxpayers' money used during the process.
He opined that the process was unconstitutional and the High Court should have asked the President to pay back monies used. Justices Teresia Matheka, Joel Ngugi, George Odunga, Jairus Ngaah, and Chacha Mwita on May 13 ruled that the Constitutional Amendment Bill 2020 is unconstitutional.
"... this court should order President Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta to refund the public monies used in the unconstitutional constitutional process. My Lord this is a novel issue for various reasons because no court in Kenya has made a determination on Article 226 (5) of the constitution," lawyer Andole stated.
A poll by Trends and Insights For Africa (TIFA), an African-based research company, on Thursday, July 1, released the results of an opinion survey they conducted to determine the popularity of the BBI.
The results demonstrated the unpopularity of the initiative with only 19 percent stating they would votes if a referendum was to be held.
According to the poll, only 31 percent of those sampled indicated they would vote against the BBI proposals if the referendum were to be held during the timeframe of the survey.
