AfricaPress-Kenya: ODM leader Raila Odinga has taken campaigns for the proposed constitutional changes to counties.
In a new strategy to ensure the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) gets the backing of a majority of counties, Raila yesterday told ODM county chairs to promote the document and fight off propaganda against it.
The brief to the officials included engaging MCAs before the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) submits the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill 2020.
IEBC has said verification of the signatures will be completed within the set timelines.
For the Bill to proceed to county assemblies for approval before it can be subjected to a referendum, it requires at least a million signatures of registered voters.
During a meeting with the officials in Nairobi, Raila appealed to them to popularise the initiative at the grassroots and fight propaganda against the proposed changes.
“It is therefore upon you as leaders in this movement to debunk the propaganda being peddled by persons who have no record and no ideologies other than plunder of public resources,” Raila said.
“You have to stand up and stop them from undermining the struggle for good governance and ending corruption which is what BBI is about.”
Raila said the BBI was critical for ODM as part of its consistent fight for social justice and equitable sharing of national resources. “It is part and parcel of our long journey to creating a united country founded on the principle of shared prosperity,” he told the officials.
Raila described the counties as the last line of defense in pushing for the passage of the document.
“Our strength and our connection with the desires of our people and our ability to grow and win more converts, depend on your active involvement with the people at the grassroots,” he said.
Raila has planned meetings with governors and MCAs as focus shifts to the assemblies that are set to decide the document’s fate.
