The Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) taskforce is confident the report they would compile after collecting views from citizens across the 47 counties would be acted on.
The Taskforce Vice Chair (VC), Dr. Adams Oloo said so far, there was clear indication of political goodwill from the two principals, President Uhuru Kenyatta and former Prime Minister, Raila Odinga and they were optimistic that whatever outcome the taskforce comes up with after listening to wananchi would be acted upon.
Speaking in Eldoret on Wednesday where the taskforce received views, suggestions and possible solutions in the six thematic areas focused on by the taskforce, Dr. Oloo said divergent political utterances across the political divide would not affect their focus.
“We don’t expect the handshake between Uhuru and Raila to separate politicians from politics. The politicians will
continue to politic because that is their profession, and that is where they get their bread,” he added.
He said so far, the taskforce has visited 30 counties and expected their report to be ready by September this year as per the timeline they were given by the principals. The team will be visiting Nandi and Elgeyo Marakwet next.
The thematic areas the taskforce is collecting views on include ethnic antagonism and competition, devolution, divisive elections, rights and responsibility, safety and security, shared prosperity and lack of national ethos.
He said what came out clearly from the residents of Uasin Gishu was the need for inclusivity, support for the fight
against corruption and the residents were also extremely concerned about the cyclic recurrence of violence and ethnic antagonism every five years.
He observed that while the citizenry of Uasin Gishu agreed that the handshake was good, it should be spread across the country and should not be politicized for the good of the nation.
“This being a cosmopolitan county, the residents want inclusivity in the hiring of county staff and workers. They also want women, elders, the youth and persons with disability to be included in the affairs of the county,” said the VC.
On corruption, he said, the residents are of the view that more stringent measures needed to be taken to deal decisively with the vice.
The committee was given one year to present a comprehensive report after collecting views from Kenyans on what they considered to be perennial problems as far as each county is concerned.
By Kiptanui Cherono
