Seven judges to hear BBI appeal case

A seven-judge bench has been constituted by the President of the Court of Appeal justice Daniel Musinga to hear the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) case.

The hearing of the appeal has been scheduled to take place for four days consecutively from June 29-July 2, 2021.

The seven judges picked to hear the high-stakes case include Presiding Judge Daniel Musinga, justices Roselyn Nambuye, Hannah Okwengu, Patrick Kiage, Gatembu Kairu, Fatuma Sichale and Francis Tuiyott.

President Uhuru Kenyatta, ODM leader Raila Odinga, the BBI National Secretariat and the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) filed separate petitions challenging the High Court ruling that declared the bid to amend the constitution through the BBI as unconstitutional.

The petitions were consolidated into one case.

Top lawyers in the country are part of the legal teams that will be battling out in court to salvage the initiative spearheaded by the President and his handshake partner ODM leader Raila Odinga.

A five-judge bench of the High Court last month ruled that the President does not have authority under the Constitution to initiate changes to the Constitution, and that a constitutional amendment can only be initiated by the President through the Attorney General in Parliament through a Parliamentary initiative.

The court further ruled that President Kenyatta had violated provisions of Chapter 6 of the Constitution on leadership and integrity, and that he can be sued in his personal capacity and not as the head of state.

Proponents of the BBI have vowed to exhaust all legal avenues to have the BBI reggae revived.