Kenya’s Court of Appeal on Friday upheld the illegality of the constitutional review process launched by President Uhuru Kenyatta, which has seen his plans thwarted less than a year before the presidential election.
The reform, dubbed the “Building Bridge Initiative” (BBI), aims to amend the 2010 constitution – which established a presidential system of government – to create, among other things, a post of prime minister, two deputy prime ministers and a leader of the opposition, and to increase the number of seats in parliament.
But “the president does not have the power under the constitution to initiate amendments to the constitution. A constitutional amendment can only be initiated by Parliament (…) or by popular initiative,” said presiding judge Daniel Musinga at the conclusion of the more than 10-hour reading of the ruling.
The head of state may be subject to civil proceedings for illegally initiating this process, the seven judges also ruled. The BBI has been a source of growing controversy since its launch on November 27, 2019.
President Kenyatta says the reform is meant to mitigate the current “winner take all” system that has caused post-election conflicts throughout the country’s history.
But critics see it as a ploy by the head of state, who is not allowed to run for a third term in the August 2022 election, to keep himself in power as prime minister.