List Of County Assemblies That Have Passed The BBI

By Clinton Ochieng

Kenya will head to a constitutional referendum in the coming months after the number of county assemblies that have approved the amendment Bill crossed the limit of 24 required to trigger a vote.

Kakamega, Narok, Mombasa, Makueni, Kitui, Bungoma, Taita Taveta, Machakos, and Lamu were among those who voted to approve the BBI bill Tuesday.

County assemblies in the Mount Kenya region such as Murang’a, Nyeri, Kirinyaga, and Tharaka Nithi, which were expected to oppose the Bill, joined the growing list of those voting for it, bringing it to over 30 counties that have passed the proposed legislation.

The 12 regional assemblies join Siaya, Bomet, Kisumu, Homa Bay, Busia, Kwale Vihiga, Trans Nzoia, Nairobi, Migori, Bomet, Kisii, Kiambu, Marsabit, West Pokot, Nyamira, Garissa, Nakuru, Nyandarua, Isiolo, Embu Kajiado, Meru, Laikipia, Tana River and Samburu that had already given their nod for the process that seeks to change Kenya’s governance system and increase funds to the counties.

National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi said that the debate on the BBI Bill will take as short as three weeks and seeing that the two Houses will not have an opportunity to change anything in the document, it is expected that the Senate will take the same amount of time.

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) in the past said the referendum would cost about 14 billion shillings, highlighting the burden on taxpayers at a time the country is facing a cash crunch due to the Covid-19 economic fall-out and the debt repayment obligations.

This begs the question as to whether this is the right time to drive the BBI Bill and use such an amount while most Kenyans are struggling to keep their heads afloat due to the economic situation of the nation owing to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The BBI secretariat holds that the country will hold the referendum by June, paving the way for a change in the governance systems ahead of the 2022 polls.

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