KISII, Kenya, Feb 18 — The County Assembly of Kisii became the eighth legislature to pass the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) Constitutional Amendment Bill (2020) on Thursday after members unanimously voted in favour of the proposed amendments.
County assemblies of Siaya, Kisumu, Homa Bay, Trans Nzoial, Busia, West Pokot and Kajiado have passed the Bill which has been rejected by the Baringo County Assembly.
The Bill requires the approval of 24 counties for it to be presented to both Houses of Parliament for consideration and thereafter be subjcted to a referendum.
Kisii County Assembly Majority Leader Timothy Ogugu who chaired the committee which considered the Bill tabled it before the House where 68 members voted unanimously to adopt it.
Acting Speaker Amos Onderi communicated to the House that he had receivec the draft bill from the Indipendent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) and the delegated committee on legislation subjected it to the public participation within seven days which ended on Wednesday.
The BBI Bill which proposes the expansion of the national executive by adding the Office of the Prime Minister and two deputies was born out of a March 2018 truce between President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM leader Raila Odinga which ended hostilities sparked by the latter’s rejection of the 2017 presidential election outcome.
