Atheists vow to oppose BBI referendum drive, say their proposals were rejected

By , K24 Digital
On Tue, 27 Oct, 2020 13:28 | < 1 min read
Front row from left: Deputy President William Ruto, President Uhuru Kenyatta and opposition leader Raila Odinga at the Bomas of Kenya for the official launch of the BBI final report on Monday, October 26, 2020. PHOTO | PSCU
Atheists in Kenya group says that all its proposals were rejected by the Building Bridges Initiative task force. PHOTO | PSCU

The society of Atheists in Kenya (AIK) on Tuesday said that it will oppose the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) report that was launched yesterday at the Bomas of Kenya.

In a press release, AIK chairperson Harrison Mumia said that the society had tabled its proposals to the task force but all their requests were neglected as none was incorporated in the final report.

Mumia said that since their proposals have been neglected, the society will rally over 1 million members to oppose the document.

“Despite us sending our proposals to the BBI task force on February 27, 2020, none was incorporated in the final document. We will rally the atheist's community in Kenya to reject the BBI report,” part of the statement read.

Giving reasons as to why they were opposed to the report, Mumia said that they had made a number of proposals on family and marriage matters calling for the abolishment of Article 170 on Kadhi's Court but none made it to the final report.

AIK had called for the recognition of lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgender (LGBT) individuals.

However, their views on LGBT rights were not incorporated in the BBI final report, the group said.

On the abolishment of Kadhis Court, AIK argued that their goal was to ensure that the government and church are separate entities.