KISUMU, Kenya, Aug 21 – Residents of Kisumu have expressed mixed reactions following the dismissal of Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) appeal at the Court of Appeal on Friday.
Lucas Otieno, a resident of Kondele, said he was disappointed by the decision that upheld the May 14 judgement by the Constitutional Court declaring the BBI constitutional amendment process null and void.
Otieno said BBI proposed a framework for stability in a country that has been dogged by post-election violence.
“The winner-takes-all competition was to be cured through BBI and the country was not going to witness another demonstration after the election,” he said.
Otieno said he is still optimistic that dreams of BBI that sunk millions of shillings of taxpayers’ money will still be realized in coming years.
“I am not losing hope, we are still here and after the 2022 general election, BBI can be revived for a referendum vote,” he said.
James Maina, another resident, said he was not taken aback by the ruling which he said was obvious.
Maina said the Constitutional Court had pronounced itself clearly on BBI and he “expected no miracle” at the Court of Appeals.
“Judiciary is independent and the High Court had made it clear that BBI is unconstitutional,” he said.
Maina however said he remained committed to ODM party leader Raila Odinga who will be making the fifth attempt at the presidency in 2022 general election.
“We want Raila (Jakom) to be the 5th President of this country,” he said.
John Paul said the ruling was in the best interest of the country.
He said the document was destined to overburden Kenyans since it proposed the creation of more positions in government.
Paul expressed satisfaction with the judgment noting that creation of more constituencies as was proposed in the document would have overburdened Kenyans.
“Kenyans are already overburdened, BBI was adding more burden. I think cancelling BBI is good,” he said.
Speaking ahead of the Court of Appeal judgement, Odinga had told his supporters he would not contest the court’s decision should the invalidation of BBI be sustained.
He affirmed the commitment on Friday saying he would only engage on BBI to the extent necessary urging parties in the suit to make “own decisions.”
This, he said, was as a result of limited time left even adding he wanted to focus on the 2022 election.
“Once we form the next government, we will reintroduce BBI so that Kenyans can change the Constitution,” he said.
