Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) leader Raila Odinga has ruled out moving to the Supreme Court to petition Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) if the case is dismissed.
The anticipated BBI judgment is expected to be delivered tommorrow in an open court
Speaking during a local radio station, said their focus now is on elections but we will come back for BBI after elections.
“If they stop BBI, we shall leave it at that and start preparing for elections. We shall bring it back in the new government. We don’t want to waste time going to the Supreme Court,” he said.
In a communication to parties, the court of appeal says the judgement will be read by the seven judges in open court.
However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, only 16 lawyers will be allowed in the court while the rest will follow proceedings online.
According to Court of Appeal Deputy Registrar Lorraine Ogombe each side should select 8 lawyers who will be in court.
This cames a week after lawyer Evans Ogada wrote to the court asking for the judgement to be delivered in open court due to public interest.
The handshake initiative was unveiled by Raila and President Uhuru Kenyatta following the disputed 2017 presidential election that nearly pushed the country to the edge.
A five-judge bench in the High Court comprising of Justices Ngugi, Odunga, Ngaah and Matheka, Mwita declared the BBI process to amend the 2010 Constitution as unconstitutional, null and void.
In their ruling, the judges said a constitutional amendment through a popular initiative is only a preserve of the ordinary Kenyans and not the Executive.
The judges also ruled that Uhuru violated Chapter 6 of the Constitution on leadership and integrity noting that the President initiated and promoted a constitutional change process contrary to the provisions of the Constitution on the amendment.
The judges also said civil court proceedings can be instituted against Uhuru or a person performing the functions of the office of President during their tenure of office in respect of anything done or not done contrary to the Constitution.
