Raila Makes Comeback, Disagrees with Oparanya over BBI Referendum

Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga has disagreed with his deputy in the ODM Party Governor Wycliffe Oparanya over the fate of the Building Bridges Initiative referendum.

In a statement on Wednesday, Odinga noted that the BBI referendum is a must, adding that the ODM leadership will push its members to fast-track the BBI bill currently in Parliament.

 “In the spirit of the Handshake and the wider goals of the BBI Amendment Bill, we agreed on the need for Parliament to fast track the process and release the document to the public to enable the people of Kenya to have a final say on the envisaged changes to the constitution via a referendum.

“We agreed that the BBI must be subjected to a referendum because it entails a fundamental reorganization of the architecture of the Executive and Kenyans need to have a say in the reorganization. The party therefore fully supports a referendum on the document,” Raila’s statement read in part.

Raila’s position contradicts that of Oparanya who noted the BBI referendum is “no longer tenable”.

Speaking on Tuesday, Oparanya argued that with the increasing debts and the 2022 election drawing nigh, it will not be possible to have a referendum before next year’s general election.

"As we move nearer to the election it will no longer be tenable. You know a referendum is just like a general election. The expenses involved are heavy so you have another general election because everyone is voting then in another twelve months you're now going to have another election. I don't think with the debts we have it's going to be tenable," Oparanya stated.