President Uhuru Kenyatta has hinted on the possibilities of
a referendum as pointed out by the Bridging Bridges Initiative (BBI) report.
Speaking during the 57th Madaraka Day
Celebrations at State House Nairobi, President Uhuru said there is “need to
reengineer our constitution.”
“I am already sensing a constitutional moment, not to replace
the Constitution but to improve it, to bring an end the senseless cycle that we
have experienced every election year since 1992,” said President Uhuru.
The President called upon leaders to work together in
realizing Kenyan dreams for peace and unity.
He added that, “If we have done great things in brick and
mortar, the bigger things that remain to be done is the transformation of our
governance structure.”
“The second thing that remains to be changed is the
transformation of our culture,” said the president.
This comes at an appropriate time following the gazettement
of the Referendum Bill 2020, which is set to be tabled in the National Assembly
on June 2.
The bill, which was drafted by the Constitutional
Implementation and Oversight Committee (CIOC) chair and Ndaragwa MP Jeremiah
Kioni, provides a framework on how the referendum vote should be conducted.
If implemented, the law will seal existing gaps in the
current constitution –which includes Article 257 of the Constitution that provides
for amendments through a popular initiative and the Elections Act which also provides
on how a referendum should be handled –all having gaps.
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