A team led by Deputy President William Ruto is seeking to go the consensus way on matters Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) report.
Speaking from the “Hustler’s” Karen residence, Garissa Town MP and immediate former majority leader in the National Assembly Aden Duale said the referendum should be held in 2022 alongside the general elections.
“A multiple choice referendum is more appropriate. It is legitimate to question the wisdom of spending 14 billion on referendum a year before an election. We propose to hold a referendum along the general elections in 2022,” Duale said.
Read: List Of DP Ruto Allies From Rift Valley Who Have Opted To Support BBI
Mathira MP Rigathi Gachagua on his part said holding the plebiscite in 2022 will save on cost.
He also noted that it should not be a Yes/No contest but rather one with multiple choices to avoid loss of great ideas.
‘…we care far too much for this country to reduce this matter to a Yes or No contest. We are of the view that the referendum should be held alongside the 2022 General Election,” Gachagua said.
Read Also: 1.5 Million Signatures Collected So Far In Favour Of BBI – Secretariat
The second in command proposed that instead of nominating members of parliament, there should be an additional 70 constituencies.
To reduce the number of MPs from 640 as proposed in the BBI report launched last week, the DP said his team’s proposal will see a minimum of 60 MP positions slashed.
The DP led team has also proposed election of 47 women senators and MPs.
“We have made the statement in very good faith. We are not making any demands on anybody, we are putting forward our case, and we believe we have a very strong case. We appreciate the independence of IEBC, the Police has been captured and secured,” Ruto said.
On matters Covid-19 pandemic that has ravaged the lives of the Kenyan people, Ruto said all the resources available to the government should be channeled to fighting the virus.
Read Also: Concerns As Ruto Skips Uhuru’s Key Meetings
His sentiments were echoed by Malindi MP Aisha Jumwa who urged the government to focus funds to mitigate the pandemic.
This comes as doctors, nurses and clinical officers get ready to go on strike next week due to poor working conditions especially the lack of PPEs and medical insurance.
The BBI secretariat has said that the Referendum will be held in June 2021 with signature collection exercise set to be concluded by Thursday.
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