Kenya top court blocks divisive constitutional reform

Kenya's top court on Thursday ruled against President Uhuru Kenyatta to reject deeply divisive constitutional changes mere months ahead of national elections. The seven-judge panel upheld a verdict made by a lower court that the president had appealed.

The wide-ranging proposals listed in the Building Bridges Intitiative (BBI) included the expansion of the executive branch, with a number of new posts including a prime minister, and a bolstering of the legislature from 290 members of parliament to 360.

Kenyatta had argued that the highly controversial plan, which he first proposed in 2018, would make politics more inclusive and help bring an end to cycles of post-election violence that have plagued the nation in recent years.

The BBI's detractors, however, had said that the changes are little more than a power grab on Kenyatta's part. They accused the president of colluding with his former rival Raila Odinga to become prime minister should Odinga emerge victorious in the August poll.

Kenyatta is barred from seeking a third term as president by the country's term limits.

'The BBI monster'

Opponents to the plan included Kenyatta's estranged deputy William Ruto, who was once tapped to be his sucessor but has been shunned in favor of Odinga, Kenya's longtime opposition leader.

"They have told us they will bring back the BBI monster because they want to create an imperial presidency," Ruto told his party's delegates earlier this month.

Ruto has said that the constitutional changes would have created an all powerful presidency by giving Kenyatta control of the judiciary through a proposed office of a judicial ombudsmand. It would also put the legislature under the president's thumb because he would control the appointment to the new posts, including the prime minister, he added.

Kenyatta, however, said that the constitutional overhaul would have promoted power sharing among competing ethnic groups, a position vehemently dismissed by Ruto's camp.

"I reject the suggestion that a united country is one that has no political competition or opposition," Ruto told his party's delegates, adding that a democratically elected government policed by a robust opposition was the answer to the country's political problems.

es/nm (AFP, Reuters)