Changing constitution now is unrealistic: Kivutha Kibwana
Makueni Governor Kivutha Kibwana. He has said that Kenyans should revise the Constitution after 2022 polls.
Makueni Governor Kivutha Kibwana has changed tune on the ongoing push for constitutional reforms. The governor now says that Kenyans should revise the Constitution after the 2022 General Election.
“In my considered opinion, we should postpone constitutional review until after 2022 elections. After that, we should revisit the Bomas Draft," he said in a tweet on Monday.
"It is not judicious to handle reconstitution of the IEBC, delimitation of constituencies, referendum and a General Election inside 12 months," he added.
This comes barely two months after the governor backed the ongoing push for constitutional reforms. The governor, who until February opposed the change of Constitution, was forced to relax his hardline stance to accommodate a section of his electorate who supported the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) Bill.
He, however, made it clear that he was ready to accept the courts’ verdict on a case against the proposed constitutional change which he, and others, had filed at the Supreme Court.
Prof Kibwana insists that changing the Constitution is unrealistic now, since it will involve revising the BBI Bill.
Various players in the push for constitutional reforms have clashed on whether the country should have a referendum. A section of Orange Democratic Movement lawmakers insist that a referendum should be held in July to pave way for the proposed changes in the Constitution.
"Most "yeses" of the 47 county assemblies were qualified. Where public participation took place, the citizens and their representatives recommended changes to the BBI bill. Parliament seems to be grappling with the same issue," he said.
