The Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) secretariat has announced plans to move to the Supreme Court to challenge the Court of Appeal and High Court judgment that declared the BBI bill unconstitutional.
BBI secretariat co-chairpersons on Thursday, August 26, said they were dissatisfied with the judgment issued by the Court of Appeal.
Led by former Dagoreti South MP Dennis Waweru and Suna East MP Junet Mohammed, the chairpersons revealed that they will support attorney General Kihara Kariuki’s appeal at the apex court.
“We believe that the two lower courts failed to appreciate the delicate balance needed in resolving an issue like the one before us and that only the Supreme Court judges have both the vocation and the mandate to do so,” said Dennis Waweru.
On his part, Suna East MP Junet Mohammed said with the expanded jurisdiction of the apex court, there would be an opportunity for the judges to look at the appeal from a broader perspective that ensures the country’s future stability.
“We are determined to ensure that some of the noble proposals in the BBI are not lost. And if they are lost, then it must be known that we did our best,” said Junet.
On Friday, August 20, 2021, the Court of Appeal ruled against the case in which BBI proponents were seeking the court’s reconsideration of the High Court decision that slammed brakes on the Constitution of Kenya Amendment Bill, 2020.
The seven-judge bench of the Court of Appeal led by Justice Musinga upheld the decision of the High Court, which nullified the BBI process, ending the push to have a referendum before the 2022 General Election.
Following the Court of Appeal’s judgment, the promoters of the BBI bill led by President Uhuru Kenyatta and his handshake counterpart Raila Odinga said as much as they were not satisfied with the judgment, their supporters should move on.
President Uhuru further said as a person he had not lost anything but Kenyans had lost an opportunity to have good changes to the 2010 constitution.
