Opposition leader Raila Odinga has lashed out at political leaders who are opposed to the Building Bridges Initiative(BBI) referendum.
According to Raila, they’re opposing the initiative because they know they will not steal anymore.
Speaking at Chitengerwa village of Matuga Constituency in Kwale County during the burial of Mzee Hassan Chitembe Bundu, he said the leaders who opposed the 2010 constitution are the same ones going round the country allegedly misrepresenting the truth about what is contained in the BBI Draft Bill.
“The anti-BBI crusaders have been peddling lies for their own selfish interests and not the people as they claim,” he said.
According to Raila, there are numerous proposals in the BBI report that would benefit the common Mwananchi but since they know they will not have anywhere to steal from, they want to oppose it and peddle lies.
He charged that the issue of positions in the Executive is contained in the Bomas draft and was just lifted and put in the BBI recommendations.
He added that BBI takes the threshold from the current 15 per cent to 35 per cent in order to enhance service delivery to the people.
Other leaders present at the funeral included Kwale County Senator Issa Juma Boy, Suna East MP Junet Mohammed, Matuga MP Kassim Tandaza, Kwale County ODM Chairman Hassan Mwanyoha and Political activist Tony Gachoka.
This comes after the Independent Electoral Boundaries Commission (IEBC) advertisement on a tender for the supply of election materials, including referendum results declaration form has raised a controversy.
The announcement indicated that IEBC is preparing to hold the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) referendum even though the Appellate Court has not ruled on the legitimacy of the initiative.
Lawyer Ian Mwiti, who represented Dr. Jack Mwimali, the 14th respondent in the BBI case at the Court of Appeal said that the advertisement indicates that the commission is pre-empting the judgement of the court.
According to him, the commission is preparing ground for an outcome that is favorable to the proponents of Constitution change.
However, secretariat co-chair Junet Mohammed said they expect the commission to be on standby.
“If the Court of Appeal clears the Bill, IEBC has to prepare for a referendum. We don’t want to hear stories that they cannot conduct a referendum and a general election,” he said.
A High Court bench comprising Justices Joel Ngugi, George Odunga, Jairus Ngaah, Teresia Matheka and Chacha Mwita had in May declared the planned referendum through the BBI as illegal, null and void.
The ruling has since been challenged in the Court of Appeal, and the appellate court directed the IEBC not to engage in any preparations for a possible referendum until the matter is determined next month.
However, the commission said that the tender is part of its preparedness for next year’s General Election.