Legislators allied to Deputy President William Ruto on Monday changed their stand on the Building Bridges Report, demanding several changes before they declared full support for the document.
The Tangatanga brigade had, since the BBI report launch, claimed to be in full support of the recommendations by the Yusuf Haji-led BBI taskforce, severally reprimanding ODM leader Raila Odinga’s endeavor to hold consultative forums across the country.
According to the defiant faction, nobody was opposed to the BBI report as it was presented during its launch at Bomas of Kenya in 2019, thus, the planned BBI forums were a waste of time and money.
In a surprise change of tune, DP Ruto’s allies, however, announced that they would remain in support of the BBI report, on the condition that five clauses would be introduced into the document, pertaining to the distribution of national revenue.
In a document dubbed the Naivasha Declaration, the MPs, mostly from the ruling Jubilee Party and other like-minded leaders, demanded that three percent of the national revenue be channeled towards the judiciary, a recommendation which comes as highly timely for the distraught arm of government.
The Tangatanga faction also demanded that five percent of the national revenue be channeled towards a consolidated fund for Kenyan farmers, and an additional five percent be set aside for a five-year transition period program, for youth graduating from the education system, into the employment world.
Naivasha Declaration pic.twitter.com/zlEfa2taey
— NoReferendumBeforeElections (@HonMoses_Kuria) January 27, 2020
Further, the legislators demanded that another 5 percent of the country’s revenue be channeled towards a consolidated fund to support special groups in the country, such as the youth, women, and people living with disabilities, to enable them prosper in entrepreneurship.
They also proposed a 5 percent revenue allocation towards a Landless and Squatters Resettlement fund.