National Assembly Majority Leader, Aden Duale, on Saturday said that having a Building Bridges referendum in June as claimed by ODM party leader Raila Odinga is impossible.
Speaking to the press in Garissa town, Duale said that there were procedures to be followed before having a referendum including collecting signatures, drafting of a bill and subjecting the same to 47 counties for approval.
During the first Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) meeting in Kisii County on Friday, Raila urged the country to prepare to go to a referendum by June this year.
“I want to tell Raila for free that the referendum he is talking about in June is impossible. Don’t cheat yourself. The timeline given for you to collect signatures you need is two to three months. Unless you want to hoodwink us and collect signatures from Huduma Number which we won’t agree,” he said.
He added, “introducing the bill takes another one month while taking it to IEBC takes another three months and subsequently to the 47 county assemblies in which at least 24 of them must support you will take another three months. Then you must have budgetary provision and bring it to both houses of the National Assembly,” he said.
Echoing what Deputy President William Ruto said on Friday, the Garissa Township MP further mocked the Kisii meeting saying that it was a waste of taxpayers’ money noting that there was no need for the ongoing political mobilization as no one was opposed to the initiative.
Ruto while in Vihiga county said that there was no one who had a problem with the BBI and argued that the report be implemented and the resources being used channelled to productive activities that would better the lives of Kenyans.