BBI team's delays will cause turmoil, Wetang'ula warns

Ford Kenya Party leader Moses Wetang'ula during Labour Day celebrations at Uhuru Park in Nairobi on May 1, 2019. PHOTO | JEFF ANGOTE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • The Bungoma senator on Friday accused the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) team of delaying to come up with a blueprint that would give the country direction.
  • Mr Wetang’ula said a referendum should be conducted by next year so that inclusivity is entrenched as part of efforts for cohesion.
  • He further warned that a presidential system will cause the country to continue "living in the nightmare of a winner-takes-all political system, which imposes exclusivity and causes havoc in every electoral cycle".
  • The Ford Kenya boss also said devolution must be strengthened through allocation of more money to counties.

Kenya could face turmoil if the 2022 general election is conducted under the current constitutional framework, Ford Kenya party leader Moses Wetang'ula has warned.

The Bungoma senator this on Friday, accusing the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) team of delaying to come up with a blueprint that would give the country direction.

“Many of us are expecting a culmination into a referendum. We expect the taskforce to act with haste.," he said during a funeral in Siaya County.

"If let issues of change drag close to the next election, we shall muddy the water and lose the big picture."

REFERENDUM

Mr Wetang’ula said a referendum should be conducted by next year so that inclusivity is entrenched as part of efforts for cohesion.

“The referendum should answer two questions - do we want the country to be governed through a presidential system or do we want to be governed through a parliamentary system?"

The politician noted that his party decided to support a parliamentary system that is more responsive, accountable and inclusive, and, above all, able to help Kenyans move forward.

“If Kenyans agree to go back to the parliamentary system, the rest will just fix cogs in the wheel, which is not difficult to do,” he said.

PRESIDENTIAL SYSTEM

Mr Wetang'ula further warned that a presidential system will cause the country to continue "living in the nightmare of a winner-takes-all political system, which imposes exclusivity and causes havoc in every electoral cycle".

“We want to see a country where the winner does not behave arrogantly and the loser does not feel vanquished,” he said.

The senator said it was unfortunate that Orange Democratic Movement leader Raila Odinga garnered more than eight million votes "but continues to be on the streets" as President Uhuru Kenyatta occupies State House yet he garndered nine million.

After Mr Odinga disputed the results of the original presidential election that took place on August 8, 2017, the Supreme Court nullified the results ordered a repeat which took place on October 26.

After the second round, it declared that President Kenyatta was the winner, with 98 percent of votes cast by 39.8 percent of registered voters.

Mr Wetang'ula said, “In comparable jurisdictions, a person who garners that many votes remains relevant, either by being either in Parliament at the National Assembly level or in the Senate, to continue turning the wheels of politics and changing the country."

DEVOLUTION

The Ford Kenya boss also said devolution must be strengthened through allocation of more money to counties.

“As a party we don t believe devolution is just a matter of creating jobs and devolving payrolls,” he said.

“When we were campaigning as [the National Super Alliance], we said we wanted 45 percent of annual budgets to go to counties to change the lives of Kenyans. We want to see good roads and a working health care system so that people can be more productive."

Mr Odinga, Mr Wetang'ula, Musalia Mudavadi (Amani National Congress) and Kalonzo Musyoka (Wiper Democratic Movement) once made up an active Nasa, that was keen on producing a President.

Since Mr Odinga and President Kenyatta's March 9, 2018 handshake, however, their plans seem to have changed but the ODM leader insists that his plan to take Kenyans to 'Canaan' remains on course.