Attempt to stop Uhuru from receiving BBI report thwarted

By , K24 Digital
On Wed, 9 Oct, 2019 12:50 | 2 mins read
Uhuru and Raila
President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM leader Raila Odinga during their handshake on March 9, 2019. PHOTO | FILE
President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM leader Raila Odinga during their handshake on March 9, 2019. PHOTO | FILE

The High Court has declined to stop the submitting of the Building Bridges Initiative report to the President.

Justice Weldon Korir of the Constitutional and Human Rights Division, in his ruling, said the petitioner has not demonstrated the prejudice she will suffer if the report is submitted to the President. 

In response to the petition, the BBI team had asked the court to dismiss the application seeking to stop the task force from submitting their report.

In an affidavit signed by the two secretaries of the task force, Paul Mwangi and Amb Martin Kimani, the task force said the report being edited before it is presented to President Uhuru Kenyatta.

They asked court to dismiss the application by Moraa Gesicho, a Nairobi resident, arguing it’s an abuse of the court process and a stunt to gain political relevance.

The BBI team told the court the petitioner would not suffer any prejudice if the report is submitted to President Kenyatta.

In their affidavit, the team said they visited all 47 counties and engaged with the youth representatives, women, people living with disabilities and the elderly.

Prof Gesicho, in her motion filed under a certificate of urgency, sought a temporary of injunction restraining the BBI from submitting the report to Mr Kenyatta.

She argued that the BBI team was unconstitutionally established, therefore, it should be barred from presenting the report to the President.

"BBI stands to be greatly prejudiced if it is not afforded an opportunity to be heard in the present petition," said BBI in response.

The first petition seeking to declare the task force unconstitutional was filed by Prof Gesicho while a second one was filed by the Thirdway Alliance Kenya and another, suing the Head of Public Service Joseph Kinyua and others.

BBI said it is of fundamental importance that the two petitions are heard and determined together as the issues raised are similar and affect the proposed interested party, namely BBI.

Justice Korir directed that the main petition challenging the legality of BBI to be heard on Wednesday, October 16.