By Christabel Airo
Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) yesterday said the focus on the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) now shifts to the National Treasury to release cash for the verification of signatures transmitted yesterday.
Chairman Wafula Chebukati, who received 4.4 million signatures and the Constitutional Amendment Bill, 2010, for clearance ahead of a possible referendum, said his team had not budgeted for the plebiscite, and will therefore approach the Treasury for funds for the exercise.
“We have received sample signatures, as a commission, our work starts here, after receiving the sign including soft copies, we shall proceed and request a budget as soon as we get budget and exchequer, “the Commission chair said.
“We have a referendum committee which will undertake the process, of course, we shall not proceed until we get the budget from the Treasury,” Chebukati added.
The IEBC Chairperson assured that his team will provide periodic updates on the progress of the BBI process further cautioning Kenyans against speculating on unverified claims and reports on BBI.
“As soon as we get the budget and exchequer then we shall now get a team, our team is already available we have a referendum committee which will undertake the exercise of signature verification but, of course, we shall not commence until we get a budget and exchequer from the National Treasury.”
Chebukati said he couldn’t give a tentative period in which the verification process would start or end because a team from the Commission will create a budget for the process, that will culminate into a referendum before July next year.
He said no work will start until he receives cash to kick off the process.
“The management team will work out a budget and that will form our next move. We have been told we have been presented with 4.4 million signatures,” he added.
He noted that every process done by the commission will be done in compliance with the Ministry of Health COVID-19 protocols to safeguard against the spread of the virus.
The BBI National Secretariat led by National Assembly Minority Whip Junet Mohammed and his co-chair Dennis Waweru presented 4.4 million signatures collected during the BBI promotion drive.
The law requires at least 1 million signatures of registered voters to be collected before the commission can forward the referendum Bill to the 47 County Assemblies for approval.