Home » BBI secretariat demands IEBC prepares for a possible referendum, “no excuses”

BBI secretariat demands IEBC prepares for a possible referendum, “no excuses”

by Nderi Caren

BBI secretariat led by co-chair Junet Mohammed is demanding the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to prepare for a referendum without giving any excuses.

Junet noted that the mandate of IEBC is to conduct elections, and should be on standby to conduct the referendum in case the court of appeal rules in favour of the BBI bill in August 20.

The BBI secretariat co-chair stated that they do not expect excuses of strict timelines by the commission since it has worked under such a condition before.

BBI secretariat demands IEBC should be ready to conduct referendum
According to Denis Waweru, who is also a member of the BBI secretariat, the amendment bill will sort that legal hurdle. Photo: Denis Waweru/Twitter.

“We don’t want to hear stories that they cannot conduct a referendum and a General Election. If they managed two presidential elections within a span of two months, nothing stops them from conducting a referendum within a year to the elections,” said Suna East MP Junet Mohamed.

In his argument, Junet said that the BBI had already gotten a clean bill from Parliament, and what was remaining was President Uhuru Kenyatta’s assent.

Thereafter, IEBC has no choice but to facilitate the referendum before the 2022 General Election.

Article 89 of the Constitution requires any boundary review process highlighted in the BBI to take place 12 months before the General Election.

However, according to Denis Waweru, who is also a member of the BBI secretariat, the amendment bill will sort that legal hurdle.

“We are still okay in terms of the timelines. The document has waived the one-year requirement for boundaries review so we can have the referendum and still review the boundaries before the next polls,” said Waweru.

To add to Junet and Waweru’s demands, ODM chairman John Mbadi said there is no law requiring a referendum to be conducted at a particular time before a General Election.

Their contributions come after the IEBC announced August 9, 2022, as the official date of the next General Election.

On the other hand, a 7-judge bench led by court of Appeal president Daniel Musinga is set to announce the judgement on the BBI case on August 20, 2021.

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