The Supreme Court has upheld the decision of the Court of Appeal invalidating the Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2020.
The Supreme Court, in a majority ruling on Thursday, affirmed that the process to amend the constitution through the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) was illegal.
The ruling was delivered by a seven-judge bench made up of Chief Justice Martha Koome, MP CJ Philomena Mwilu, Justices William Ouko, Isaac Lenaola, Mohammed Ibrahim, Smokin Wanjala and Njoki Ndung’u.
CJ Koome: I endorse the findings of the two superior courts that the President ought not to be a player and an umpire in the amendment process #BBIFinalVerdict pic.twitter.com/nQLQ0pYeb3
— NTV Kenya (@ntvkenya) March 31, 2022
The judges determined that the alleged popular initiative was initiated by President Uhuru Kenyatta and not by the common Mwananchi ‘wanjiku’. The court held that a popular initiative is a preserve of the people and not of their representatives. Justices Lenaola and Ndung’u disagreed.
BBI is a product of the March 9, 2018 political truce between President Kenyatta and opposition leader Raila Odinga, popularly known as the handshake. BBI sought, among others, to expand the Executive and introduce the office of the Prime Minister and two MPs as part of what the handshake duo called efforts to resolve the historic injustices plaguing the country.
In Thursday’s ruling, the Supreme Court also ruled on five other issues before the court.
The court overturned a Court of Appeal ruling that the Basic Structure Doctrine applies in Kenya with Justice Lenaola dissenting. This now paves the way for the amendment of certain clauses of the Constitution that the lower court ruled to be “unamendable.”
The court further held that the Independent Electoral and Boundary Commission (IEBC) was properly constituted when it handled the BBI bill.
BBI was declared unconstitutional, null and void by the Court of Appeals
BBI was declared unconstitutional, null and void by the Court of Appeals in August of last year.
The petition was filed by Attorney General Kihara Kariuki and IEBC with the BBI Secretariat as an interested party.
CJ Koome says the second schedule of the BBI amendment bill [that proposed to create 70 new constituencies] is unconstitutional as it lacked public participation. #BBIFinalVerdict pic.twitter.com/O8l6FVVODL
— NTV Kenya (@ntvkenya) March 31, 2022
