President Kenyatta’s constitutional amendment bid declared “unconstitutional, null and void” _ Court

Kenya’s Constitutional Court on Thursday ruled as unconstitutional, null and void, the process to amend the country’s constitution.

The five judge bench ruled that the process which had been championed by President Uhuru Kenyatta and opposition leader Raila Odinga, had multiple legal blunders.

The judges ruled that President Uhuru Kenyatta does not have the power to directly initiate constitutional amendment under the law since parliament is the only organ with such power.

Furthermore, the jurors ruled that the country’s President Kenyatta contravened chapter six of the constitution of Kenya, adding that he can be sued in his personal capacity.

It also ruled that the 14-member taskforce team as well as the steering committee under the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) was an illegal entity, unknown to the law.

The process may not be unconnected with the March 2018 ‘handshake’ between President Kenyatta and long time opposition leader Odinga, a move aimed at quelling rising political tension in the country following the hotly contested 2017 presidential elections.

They described the constitutional amendment process as “a presidential initiative guised as a popular initiative”, arguing that allowing it to be sustained amounts to having the president as promoter and referee of his own initiative.

The judgment follows the consolidation of seven cases filed at the courts seeking to stop the process. Mainstream case was filed by five activists namely economist David Ndii, Jerotich Seii, James Ngondi, Wanjiku Gikonyo and Ikal Angelei. The Ndii led team case was consolidated with seven other cases challenging BBI.

The petitions sought to stop the country’s electoral body, IEBC, from conducting a referendum to implement the BBI Bill passed by parliament recently.