Raila Odinga now says BBI referendum should not cost more than Ksh.5 billion

Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party leader Raila Odinga has now stated that the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) referendum should not cost more than Ksh.5 billion of taxpayers’ money.

Raila, speaking on Thursday morning in an interview with Inooro TV/Inooro FM, maintained his opposition towards an earlier figure of Ksh.14 billion as projected by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), however making an about-turn on his own earlier statement that the cost would not surpass Ksh.2 billion.

According to the former premier, the cost of election in Kenya is the highest in the continent and beyond since a single ballot currently costs about $7, adding that this should not be the case.

He also dismissed Deputy President William Ruto’s proposal for the BBI to undergo a multi-choice referendum saying it is illogical going by the illiteracy levels in the country.

“Right now Kenyans are voting 6 ballots…how can we now bring a 7th ballot which also has choices? It will be challenging to 40 per cent of Kenyans who don’t even know how to read and write. The maximum cost of the referendum should not go beyond Ksh.5 billion,” he stated.

The handshake partner, while commending Siaya County Assembly for being the first to pass the BBI Bill, expressed optimism that the 24 counties target required to pass the document before it goes to Parliament could be achieved before the end of the month.

“Each county assembly has their own way of doing things…in Siaya for instance, we met (with MCAs) recently but they didn’t come because they were working, they were doing public participation and later did the hearing and yesterday they passed it…they wanted to be number one, we hope to get 24 counties before the end of this month.”

Raila further rubbished claims by DP Ruto’s camp that he was not involved in the process, stating that President Kenyatta called his deputy right before that monumental moment on March 9, 2018 to inform him of the progress before his (Raila’s) presence.

“When we meet at the Office of the President, we were the two of us…the President called Ruto in front of me and told him ‘when you see me with Raila shaking hands, don’t worry.’ I also called Kalonzo but he was mteja, then I called Mudavadi and told him ‘when you see me with Uhuru shaking hands, don’t worry, I will explain when we meet at Stoni Athi’ and I told him to inform Kalonzo,” he said.

“So the DP  was in this and he even proposed 3 people from the BBI taskforce…so it’s not fair to say that he was not involved.”

He however slammed DP Ruto for allegedly abandoning the Jubilee government’s development agenda to start 2022 campaigns after the handshake, leaving President Kenyatta to work alone and thereby undermining the Head of State.

The ODM party chief also sought to dismiss claims that MCAs are being coerced or bribed into passing the BBI Bill using such niceties as the car grants saying this is propaganda by opponents of the initiative.

“Nobody has said BBI has to pass by force…this is propaganda by some leaders who want to get into leadership with the current system of administration which may result in chaos. MCAs asked the president about the car grants and the president did it, he still could do it without BBI…even if he bribed them he cannot bribe Kenyans to pass it,” he said.

“We’re a democratic nation…those who are rejecting the BBI saying that the 2010 constitution has not been implemented have their right but what is making the 2010 Katiba not to be fully implementable is due to the heavy issues addressed in BBI …the Linda Katiba team is a faction of TangaTanga.”