Politicians allied to Deputy President William Ruto have been dealt a blow in the debate on implementation of the BBI report.
This is after National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi said the report cannot be introduced in Parliament in its current form.
Muturi on Monday said the document has to be converted into a Bill or policy for it to get its way into Parliament.
The Speaker added that if the report went the public initiative way, it would require collecting of one million signatures.
Muturi said if the debate on a referendum came up, there would be need to take it to the county assemblies first before it goes to Parliament.
“Before that, what is it coming to Parliament to do? Is it a white paper or a policy paper? It’s none of those,” he said.
“We did not originate the BBI. It is owned by the Executive. As it is, it does have the legs to walk to Parliament. It has to be distilled into a Bill.”
ODM leader Raila Odinga has vouched for a referendum, saying the people must be included, rather than Parliament.
On the other hand, politicians allied to Ruto have been opposed to a referendum, and instead supported a parliamentary process.
Muturi said the report is ‘executive’ in nature as most of the items in the document can be implemented by policies.
“Most of the items do not require legislation. There are some issues that would just require legislation. But in the Constitution, public participation is one of the public values,” he said.