Ruto's allies in Kitui prepare grounds to oppose BBI

 By Boniface Mwaniki

DP Ruto’s close allies in Kitui have come out vehemently to Prepare ground for a ‘NO’ vote against constitutional changes being spearheaded by former Prime Minister Raila Amolo Odinga and President Uhuru Kenyatta through the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI).

The DP’s allies claim that Kitui county was taken for a ride in sharing of goodies in the BBI report, as they missed the creation of a Mwingi county as they proposed and even didn’t secure any constituency from the proposed 70.

Speaking at Mwingi town today, Moses Banda who is the Chair of the ‘hustler nation’ Kitui chapter said that Kitui would have been split into to two to create Mwingi county and by all means, it should have benefitted from the 70 constituencies if at all a scientific formula was applied in the allocation of the new parliamentary seats.

“We expected Kitui county to get at least two constituencies from the newly identified 70, we wonder why we were shortchanged yet we have both the population and landmass to warrant us that” added the DP’s ally.

However, Mr. Banda said that all the views of Kitui residents were ignored and therefore there wasn’t a need for Kitui residents to support the proposed constitutional change.

He also said that the timing for constitutional change was bad, as the country is still grappling with the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and it would only be wise if the funds meant for constitutional change are channeled towards fighting the pandemic.

“The country is grappling with dire effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, I wonder how leaders with a sound mind would allow the country to go into a referendum whereby lives of millions of Kenyans would be risked,” he said. 

Sammy Nzoka, a resident of Mwingi and a member of Mwingi Opinion shapers group which has been advocating for the establishment of Mwingi county blamed leaders from Kitui county for neglecting the will of their electorate for personal political gains.

“Our leaders took us for a ride and went to massage the ego of leaders from elsewhere for their personal gains, we thought they would fight us to ensure that we aren’t left out in the BBI goodies. Their punishment is still awaiting them come 2022,” said the resident.

Julius Mutukaa a re-known businessman from Mwingi called for dissolution of Nairobi as a county following its take over by the national government and the creation of Mwingi county to fill its place.

“Kitui county has a landmass of over 30,000 KM² and a population of over 2 million people, hence it was qualified to get a share of the 70 constituencies,” He said.
 

Musyoka Maiyu, an elder and a re-known artist from Kitui county urged President Uhuru Kenyatta to consider the cry of Kitui residents and ensure that their views are reflected in the BBI.