The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party founded by Raila Odinga party has finally broken its silence on divisions within the camp over the Building Bridges Initiative Bill 2020.
Kivumbi.co.ke understands that over the last week, there have been ideological differences among members of the Orange Democratic party in particular the legislative wing with regard to the BBI Bill seeking to amend the Kenyan Constitution 2010 through a popular initiative.
It emerged that while Siaya senator James Orengo and Rarieda MP Otiende Amollo were pushing for the reopening of the faulty BBI document for fresh amendments, Raila’s legal advisor Paul Mwangi maintained that any changes to the document including a mere coma will render BBI an illegal document.
In a statement to newsrooms, the party’s Director of Communication Philip Etale on Monday, May 03 said Kenyans and ODM supporters should not look at the differences as a spilt but as a demonstration of maturity in a democratic space.
“In a democratic party like ODM, members have to disagree and later agree on principal especially when it comes to sensitive matters as the Constitution review,” Etale said.
He assured ODM supporters across the country that the division among legislators is good for democracy.
“As a party, we wish to assure our members, supporters, and the general public that our legislators are only differing on substance but have a common agreement that they will all pass the Bill on the voting day,” he said.
When the divisions in the party whether to reopen the document or not escalated, ODM chair John Mbadi called all party members to pass the faulty document the way it was.
However, Orengo maintained that the Senate can not pass a faulty document to the referendum and wondered how they will look before the eyes of the members of the public.
