Kenya Kwanza coalition has castigated President Uhuru Kenyatta and his handshake brother Raila Odinga after the Supreme Court of Kenya ruled the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) Bill was unconstitutional.
In a statement issued Friday, April 1, 2022, the coalition spearheaded by Deputy President William Ruto of UDA, ANC’s Musalia Mudavadi and Ford Kenya’s Moses Wetangula said a lot of money was spent to popularise BBI which the two tried to push through a backdoor at the expense of taxpayer’s money.
They allege that approximately Ksh.10 billion was used to promote the unconstitutional bill through meetings in hotels, as they claim that section 66(1) (a) of the public finance was violated by using public funds to facilitate activities surrounding the BBI Bill.
They further claimed that the process of funding BBI was not authorized by the National Assembly and that principal secretaries and accounting officers should be held accountable.
“Article226(5) of the constitution states clearly that if the holder of a public office directs and approves the use of public funds contrary to law or instructions, the person is liable for any loss arising from that use and shall make good the loss whether the person remains the holder of an office or not,” reads the statement.
The Kenya Kwanza brigade lauded the Supreme Court for turning down the BBI Bill.
They also revealed that Kenya Kwanza allied Members of Parliament would move to push a bill that would see the Auditor-General undertake a forensic audit on all public funds used on the BBI Bill, as per the requirement by Article 37 of the Public Audit Act 2015.
The brigade also attacked Azimio La Umoja coalition sighting that just like BBI, public funds were used to sponsor the Azimio.
“It is now clear the illegality and fraudulent dictation to Kenyans, of an illegal process that has cost the Kenyan government a huge sum of money, funds that would have been channeled to other urgent needs of Kenyans, is now well manifested in the Azimio charades.”
The BBI Supreme Ruling
The Supreme Court slammed breaks on BBI Reggae on March 31, 2022, but opened a window for the handshake brigade to initiate fresh constitutional amendments.
In the groundbreaking ruling, the seven-judge bench led by Chief Justice Martha Koome overturned five of the seven grounds the Court of Appeal had used to annul the BBI-driven law change.
Among the key issues determined by the apex court was that the Kenyan Constitution does not have a basic structure doctrine.
This was to imply that there is no article that cannot be amended so long as the law is followed.
