Women leaders in the Inua Mama JengaTaifa team have urged Narok residents to scrutinize the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) report when it will be released to ensure that it only contain agenda that will benefit them.
Speaking yesterday at the Ole Ntimama stadium in Narok town during the Inua mama campaign, the Narok Women Representative Soipan Kudate who hosted the team said that they have awaited the BBI report for a long time and it has been used like a bug to intimidate leaders by aiming to create some positions to benefit a few individuals while also scraping some particular positions like the woman representative seats.
“We are in a time when Kenyans will not be misled because we want solutions to our problems as youths and women. We want something that is of benefit to our economy,” she added.
The BBI was initiated following the handshake between President Uhuru Kenyatta and Orange Democratic Party leader Raila Odinga on March 9, last year. After that a BBI task force led by Garrisa Senator Yusuf Haji and Amos Wako went around the counties collecting views from the public.
The BBI report is expected to address the nine-point agenda in the memorandum of understanding signed between President Uhuru and Raila Odinga namely rampant corruption, strengthening devolution, divisive elections, ethnic antagonism, lack of national ethos, safety and security, rights and responsibility and inclusivity.
The president Friday confirmed that he and Odinga are expected to receive the report on Tuesday before it is released to Kenyans for their consideration.
The County Member of Parliament for Uasin Gishu Gladys Boss Shollei termed the BBI as illegal stating there are only two ways to change the constitution which are the parliamentary initiative or popular initiative.
She added that all power belongs to the people and as such they should have gone to the public and asked them what they want like in the previous referendums and not getting just the opinion of few people.
“Seven thousand people cannot represent the views of 48 million Kenyans. We will have to go through the report carefully before making a decision whether to accept it,” she added.
Other leaders expressed their hopes that if the BBI report contains solutions to problems that the youths are facing such as unemployment and champion the growth of women while solving the issues of corruption in the country then they will support it wholeheartedly.
However, they added that if it was aiming to extend the term limits of those currently in power and introduce the position of prime minister, they will oppose it.
“Dynasties will not be clinging to the top seats while others are just stepping stones,” said Bomet East MP Beatrice Kones.
Her sentiments were echoed by Emurua Dikirr Member of Parliament Joanna Ng’eno who reiterated that while building new bridges they cannot destroy the already existing ones.
“Anybody who has been a president or a prime minister in this country should never contest in any position created by the BBI,” he added.
The event was also attended by the Inua Mama Chairlady and the MP for Kandara Alice Muthoni among other members of parliament, county women representatives, senators, members of county assembly and representatives from the Narok County government.
Using funds from the InuaMamaJengaTaifa Initiative fund and the Narok Government Affirmative Action Fund (NGAAF), the leaders donated wheel chairs to several disabled people, motorbike umbrellas, car wash machines and trolleys to the youths. They also donated meko gas cookers, energy saving jikos as well as water tanks to several women groups present.
By Mabel Keya – Shikuku and Joseph Kariuki
