Nairobi — Deputy President William Ruto has welcomed Thursday night’s court ruling nullifying the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) constitutional amendment process.
Ruto remained on the opposing side as President Uhuru Kenyatta and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, initiated and popularised the process since March 2018 when they shook hands at the steps of Harambee House signaling an end to their political animosity.
There is GOD in heaven who loves kenya immeasurably. May GOD’S name be PRAISED forever.- William Samoei Ruto, PhD (@WilliamsRuto) May 13, 2021
He was reacting to a court ruling by a five-judge bench of Joel Ngugi, George Odunga, Jairus Ngaah, Teresia Matheka and Chacha Mwita who nullified the entire BBI process as an illegality days after the National Assembly and the Senate approved it.
The judges also declared that President Uhuru Kenyatta had violated th Constitution, particularly Chapter 6, when he initiated the process following his handshake with former Prime minister Raila Odinga with whom he promoted the process.
“The constitutional amendment Bill is an initiative of the president and the law is clear that the president does not have the constitutional mandate to initiate any constitutional changes through popular initiative,” the judges said in a unanimous ruling delivered on Thursday night.
They said only Parliament or the citizens can initiate such process, thus, “A declaration is hereby made that civil proceedings can be instituted against the president for violating the Constitution, by initiating its amendment.”
The judges also faulted the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), saying all the decisions it made, including verifying BBI signatures.
The judges said, the commission was not properly constituted because it lacked the requisite quorum of five commissioners to make any major policy decision.
“All the decision IEBC made regarding the constitutional amendment Bill is illegal because it lacks the quorum required,” the judges ruled, “At the time the BBI report was launched, there was no legislation in place to guide the referendum process.”
