As the country anxiously awaits the findings of the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) task force, politicians allied to Deputy President William Ruto have hinted at a possible rejection of the report.
Just hours to the report’s presentation Thursday deadline, former Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale reignited the BBI viability debate in a social media post, where he poked questions into how the entire process was carried out and how Kenyans are expected to endorse such a questionable undertaking.
So we are expected to endorse the BBI report! Never mind that:
~the Handshake came as a complete surprise
~the BBI team was composed secretly
~the nine point BBI agenda was drawn without reference to us
~public participation over BBI agenda was choreographed
Amazing! pic.twitter.com/rNgzXk3nMS— Dr Boni Khalwale, CBS (@KBonimtetezi) October 23, 2019
Khalwale is one of the most vocal politicians in Tangatanga, a team that has taken it upon themselves to drum up support for Ruto ahead of the 2022 General Election.
Ruto is known to have initially been against the BBI concept, which was born out of President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM leader Raila Odinga’s famous handshake, with Kenyans suspecting that the endeavour negatively impacted on his political career.
However, the 2022 presidential aspirant has in the recent past appeared to soften his stance on the undertaking by Uhuru and Raila, saying that he has no issue with BBI as long as Kenyans endorse the findings and recommendation of the task force.
Part of Khalwale’s Wednesday argument is that the handshake between Uhuru and Raila caught Kenyans by surprise.
Prior to their coming together, the two political leaders were fierce rivals who could not see eye to eye on any issue and their sudden found understanding sent the country reeling in shock.
Of concern to Khalwale is the fact that the BBI team, tasked with collecting opinions from citizens on how the country should move forward, was composed secretly, and the agenda of the Initiative was arrived at without proper consultation with political stakeholders.
The Senator Yusuf Haji-led task force was created in 2018.
The BBI is based on the dream to end ethnic antagonism, corruption, and election violence amongst other issues.
The former Senator further indicated that public participation on the BBI agenda was choreographed, wondering then, how “…we are expected to endorse the BBI report.”