Our lobbying for BBI has borne fruit, Kirinyaga leaders say

Leaders from Kirinyaga County have described as historic the adoption by at least 40 county assemblies of The Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill, 2020, commonly referred to as the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) Bill.

Led by Governor Anne Waiguru, the leaders lauded all the 33 Kirinyaga ward representatives for unanimously passing the Bill on Tuesday.

They said the MCAs had made them proud.

They said they had been lobbying to have the Bill endorsed and were happy their efforts had borne fruit.

“Ward representatives have spoken and we are happy about their wise decision," said Kirinyaga Jubilee Chairman Mureithi Kang'ara.

Mr Kang'ara said the verdict by the MCAs had proved the BBI opponents wrong.

New constituency

The leaders said BBI will bring a new constituency in Kirinyaga and increase funds for development.

“We shall have more funds for development and educating our children. The Bill is good and that is why the MCAs have voted for it overwhelmingly," said Ms Waiguru.

The governor said that women will gain a lot as the Bill, once it becomes law, will ensure gender equality.

The leaders exuded confidence that the Bill will be endorsed by both the National Assembly and the Senate so that it can be subjected to a referendum.

At the Kirinyaga assembly, the bill was tabled by the Legal, Justice and Delegated Legislation Committee Chairperson Gudson Muchina, who is also the Tebere Ward MCA.

Adequate public participation

In a sitting that was also attended by Governor Waiguru, Mr Muchina told the assembly that the amendment Bill was received by the assembly on January 27 after which adequate public participation was carried out in accordance with the law.

He said that the assembly received 7,026 memoranda from Kirinyaga residents, out of which 7,024 were in support of the proposed constitutional amendments while only two were in opposition.

During the debate, the MCAs hailed the governor for her visionary outlook and support for the BBI.

On her part, Governor Waiguru congratulated the MCAs, saying that they had truly represented the voice of the residents and demonstrated that they are determined to secure their constituents’ interests above politics.

Funding for wards

She said that the guaranteed funding for wards through the proposed Ward Development Fund will ensure that Kirinyaga wards get about Sh 700 million for development projects.

In the proposed amendments, Kirinyaga will get an annual allocation of Sh8 billion, up from the current Sh4.8 billion.

The governor said BBI will bring more gains for women as the two-thirds gender rule and nomination of women to various positions will be safeguarded. She said it will go a long way in raising women representation.  She noted that legislating of nomination will ensure that only deserving leaders get nominated, which will rid the process of favouritism.

While debating on Bill, the Kirinyaga MCAs said that they could not go against the wishes of the majority who supported it.

They enumerated the benefits that the proposed changes would bring to Kirinyaga residents, Mt Kenya region and Kenya at large.