Allies of Deputy President William Ruto have reassured that they will join the Building Bridges Initiative meetings during their Naivasha retreat on Monday, January 27 but advocated for a different strategy.
The team, led by Senate Majority Leader Kipchumba Murkomen, also announced they would take charge of some of the BBI meetings and dismissed calls for parallel rallies.
They promised to attend the upcoming rally in Nakuru on February 8.
During a presser held after the Naivasha retreat, the leader called announced that they would hold their own rallies to get the views of their supporters.
The Jubilee leaders also discussed a plan to release a schedule of meetings to popularise their views to their supporters to stop ODM and Raila Odinga, who they accuse of using the BBI to gain political mileage.
They vowed to mobilise other Kenyans and leaders including President Uhuru Kenyatta and DP Ruto to attend the rallies, as well as, proposed additional meetings to promote wider understanding of the BBI report.
No more parallel BBI rallies, Senator Murkomen says. pic.twitter.com/5T1SEO97K3
— NTV Kenya (@ntvkenya) January 27, 2020
The MPs also want the country to adopt the 2005 Bomas Draft which has the constitutional clauses being proposed in BBI report (a post of president, deputy president, a prime minister and several ministers). The prime minister would be the leader of the largest party or coalition in the National Assembly.
This comes just two days after some of the MPs made their first appearance at the BBI rally held in Mombasa over the weekend.
The 2022 political matrix has been a sticking point in the BBI debate, with leaders allied to the Deputy President accusing ODM of using the BBI to craft a political lineup for 2022 general elections.
Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria, who is said to be one of the organizers of the retreat, had stated that it would be a Jubilee Parliamentary Group meeting.
“We are gearing up for the first official Jubilee Parliamentary Group meeting since the release of the BBI report. We shall come up with the official Jubilee position on the BBI scenarios to be presented to Senator Yusuf Haji’s team,” he stated.
In a change of tune, the Elgeyo Marakwet Senator, who had steered away from the referendum debate, said the vote will be needed to unite Kenyans and end the ‘us versus them’.