ODM County coordinating chairpersons have urged President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM leader Raila Odinga to expedite the release of the final BBI report and its recommendations. Speaking to the press in Nairobi after a consultative meeting on Friday led by ODM Secretary General Edwin Sifuna, the officials called for the release and public launch of the implementation of BBI reforms so that they can start mobilizing people for the implementation process.
They voiced their support for a referendum, saying the proposed BBI changes in governance and the political system are supposed to make governance more accountable, “We particularly support the proposals to decongest the Presidency by creating the office of the Prime Minister and Deputies whose occupants we know will be drawn from the National Assembly thus not placing any additional burden on the tax payer,” said Makadara MP George Aladwa.
The officials refuted suggestions that BBI reforms will expand the Executive, stating that if 50% of the Cabinet will come from Parliament it will reduce the burden of the Executive on the taxpayer and increase accountancy of government to citizens through the Parliament. They also supported the party’s stance on the war against corruption, saying they stand for a zero tolerance to graft.