BBI Secretariat to Appeal High Court Ruling Nullifying Referendum Process

The Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) Secretariat has vowed to appeal a High Court ruling that declared the entire BBI process as unconstitutional. 

BBI Secretariat co-chairs Junet Mohamed and Dennis Waweru termed the decision as judicial activism that cannot derail a constitutional amendment.

They accused the five-judge bench of embarking on a fishing expedition, saying it granted orders that were not sought by the petitioners and having a personal vendetta against the president.

“Five judges dismissed the whole exercise and went even further than the petitioners themselves expected. They made very personalized attacks against the person and the office of the president. This was a very deliberate plan to plunge the country into a constitutional crisis and chaos through judicial activism,” said Junet Mohamed.

Justices Joel Ngugi, George Odunga, Jairus Ngaah, Teresia Matheka, and Chacha Mwita on Thursday ruled that President Kenyatta violated the Constitution by initiating the referendum process.

“The constitutional amendment Bill is an initiative of the president and the law is clear that the president does not have the constitutional mandate to initiate any constitutional changes,” the judges said in a unanimous ruling.

They added: “BBI is a hybrid initiative unknown to the constitution, therefore it is our finding that the popular initiative as means to amend the constitution under article 257 of the constitution is a power reserved for Wanjiku. Neither the president nor any state organ can utilize article 257 of the constitution to amend the constitution.”

The judges further faulted the decisions made by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), including verifying BBI signatures, saying the electoral body was not properly constituted as it lacked the requisite quorum of five commissioners to make any major policy decision.

“An injunction is hereby issued barring IEBC from undertaking any processes with regards to the amendment of the constitution,” the judges said.

The ruling followed a consolidated case filed by eight petitioners challenging the BBI process.