The National Assembly Speaker, Justin Muturi has dismissed calls for parliament to amend a section of the BBI bill.
On May 4, Muturi told Members of parliament that they cannot make changes on the bill as it will have a negative impact on the popularity of the bill.
He said that the Bill was popular among many Kenyans and to amend it was going against the will of the people, which is the supreme law.
“No state organ or person to whom power is delegated by the people under Article 1 of the Constitution, can stand in the way of the exercise of the people’s sovereign power to chart the course of their future in any manner they deem fit within the provisions of the Constitution,” Muturi ruled.
According to him, only grammatical errors and typos on the bill can be changed and not any clauses inside.
Muturi’s ruling comes after calls by a section of MPs to make amendments on the bill, citing illegality in some of its clauses.
A team led by Senate minority leader and Siaya Senator James Orengo said that the new 70 constituencies that the bill seeks to introduce are illegal.
The team called for an amendment of that section of the bill, saying that they were ready to pass it after those changes were made.
This stand by the Siaya Senator and Rarieda MP Otiende Amollo has caused a major division in the ODM Party.
Other party members, led by chairman John Mbadi have accused Orengo’s team of wanting to sabotage the report.
As a result of the scuffle, Otiende Amollo was ousted from the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee of the National Assembly, where he served as the deputy chairperson.
The party has recommended the appointment of Ruaraka MP TJ Kajwang to replace Otiende.
