Wednesday, March 31, 2021 – Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya has dealt the ongoing push for Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) referendum a severe blow after he gave up the fight, arguing BBI is no longer tenable to the utter surprise of his boss, former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, who is the face of BBI.
Speaking during an interview yesterday, the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) deputy party leader said it would not be possible to conduct a referendum to amend the constitution amid the Covid-19 pandemic and the dwindling economic fortunes.
Oparanya said all the available resources should be channeled to fighting the pandemic that has claimed the lives of over 2,100 Kenyans.
“As we move nearer to the elections, it’s not going to be tenable (to conduct a referendum) because you know a referendum is just like a General Election.”
“The expenses involved are heavy…you can’t have a plebiscite, and then in the next 12 months, you hold the elections,” Oparanya stated.
The governor decried the huge debts the country had incurred during the Jubilee administration and noted it would be important to divert the BBI funds to curbing the spread of Covid-19.
“If Covid-19 was not there, I think by now we would have had a referendum.”
“You see us here; we are even unable to go out there because we would contract the virus,” stated Oparanya.
Deputy President William Ruto had warned that BBI is not a priority for Kenyans who are facing the deadly Covid-19 pandemic, and as it turns out, he was right.
E! News Blog
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