Kenyans have been asked to live peacefully and play uniting politics during and after the implementation process of the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) report.
The Suba community coordinator, Mr. Paul Otieno said the country was multi- ethnic and asked politicians to weigh their public utterances and avoid sowing seeds of discord.
He supported the draft report and said the interests of all communities have been catered for in the proposed constitutional changes.
“Even the smaller ethnic groups like the Ogiek have nothing to worry about and should vote for ‘yes’ if subjected to a referendum early next year,” Otieno told journalists in Migori.
The official who is also the former Migori mayor however came to the defense of those criticizing the report, saying they had a democratic right to support or oppose the draft.
“They should not whip up tribal emotions at this time when the process of passing or rejecting the report is ongoing,” Mr Otieno added.
Unveiled at Bomas of Kenya recently for public scrutiny, the BBI report has so far attracted support and rejection in equal measure from Kenyans, raising political tension in the country.
Whereas President Uhuru Kenyatta and his political foe-turned-friend Raila Odinga have been pushing for the passing of the report as it is, those opposed to it led by Deputy President William Ruto have on the other hand been calling for its rejection citing serious gaps.
Ruto has always pleaded for consensus to make the report go to a referendum as a non-contested draft by including new ideas in it.
But the ODM leader Raila Odinga has maintained that not even a coma or a full stop will be changed to accommodate new ideas, accusing Ruto and his ilk of opposing the spirit of the BBI from the initial days after their handshake with President Kenyatta.
The Suba Community coordinator however noted that the spirit of the report was good and should be supported by all in order to save the country from the trend of conflicts after every general election.
“We have very good proposals in the report that will protect the country from burning after every election since the future administrations will be so inclusive to all Kenyan communities,” explained Mr. Otieno.
By George Agimba
