President Uhuru Kenyatta Extends Term Of BBI Taskforce

President Uhuru Kenyatta and his “brother” Raila Odinga met on Wednesday evening and decided to extend the term of the Building Bridges Initiative taskforce (BBI).

According to a statement published on the Statehouse website, the taskforce has been tasked with steering the “next phase of the BBI Report.”

The statement says the next phase will include “expanding and guiding public participation and structuring recommendations by Kenyans into implementable action plans.”

The extension of BBI’s taskforce term has already elicited questions with some factions now worried that plans are underway to introduce new changes into the report.

The BBI Report, among other things, recommended the creation of the position of the Prime Minister who will be appointed by the President and will earn no additional salary.

Some are viewing the extension of the term as a scheme to introduce new clauses like creating a power PM position before the report goes for a referendum.

Before the release of the report, the ruling party had been torn into two; the Tanga Tanga battalion (against BBI) and the Kielewe battalion (for BBI).

After the report was released, the Tanga Tanga battalion, led by Deputy President William Ruto, changed tune and embraced the report.

What next? Only time will tell.

Happy Jamhuri Day.