President Kenyatta, Raila unveil BBI implementation plan

President Kenyatta, Raila unveil BBI implementation plan

President Uhuru Kenyatta and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga on Monday took Members of Parliament through a detailed implementation plan for the recently launched Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) report.

Addressing the lawmakers at the end of a two-day retreat in Naivasha, President Kenyatta and Mr. Odinga rallied their parliamentary troops with a direct message that it is no longer about if but when the BBI referendum will be conducted.

The handshake co-principals joined the retreat in Naivasha where a detailed roadmap for the implementation of BBI proposed changes was unveiled.

Already a referendum committee and a coordination team has been established with sources intimating to Citizen TV that the teams will include technocrats and members of parliament.

In a presentation made to members of parliament in a highly guarded session held in camera, collection of one million signatures to back the BBI bill is set to take off and is expected to be concluded within 30 days.

After the signatures have been collected, both the signatures and the referendum bill will be handed over to the IEBC for verification; an exercise that will take 7 days.

IEBC will then begin a 30-day long verification exercise from December 10, 2020 to January 10 next year.

Once the electoral body verifies that one million signatures have annexed the bill, it will be required to submit the draft to all the 47 county assemblies between January 11 and January 18 next year.

30 days have been set aside for the county assemblies to debate and approve the BBI bill between January 19 and February 19, next year.

In the powerpoint presentation seen by Citizen TV, Parliament will then be required to comb through the bill within 45 days and vote on the bill.

The BBI bill is scheduled to leave parliament between February 20th and April 5 next year.

At this point, the BBI referendum is expected to be at the height of its campaigns with sources informing Citizen TV that governors will be in charge of the county campaigns while MPs will take charge of constituencies with both teams falling under the national referendum committee.

The IEBC is scheduled to hold a referendum within 60 days falling between April 6 and June 6, 2021.

According to the drafters of the road map, the president will assent to the amendments through the referendum within 7 days with the exercise falling between June 7 and June 14, when results will be declared.

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Uhuru kenyatta raila odinga BBI referendum Naivasha retreat

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