Raila Rules Out Moving to Supreme Court if BBI Appeal Case Fails

ODM leader Raila Odinga has ruled out moving to the Supreme Court if the Court of Appeal upholds the High Court verdict that declared the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) process unconstitutional.

Speaking on Wednesday, he stated that BBI proponents will not waste their waste time challenging the decision at the apex court should the appeals court agree with the lower court.

“If we lose out on BBI, we can move to Supreme Court, but because there is no time left, we won’t pursue that line,” Odinga said in an interview.

Odinga said they will instead focus on preparing for the 2022 general elections, adding that the BBI process will be back if they form the next government.

“We want to concentrate on the coming elections, once we make the government, we bring BBI back,” he said.

At the same time, Odinga ruled out any possibility of taking the BBI document for Parliamentary approval, insisting that it is only subject to public nod through a referendum.

“It’s a people-driven process, we can’t sneak it in Parliament. If the Court of Appeal knocks it down, then we will place the document in an envelope as we wait for the new government to bring it back,” Odinga added.

A seven-judge bench of the Appeals Court is set to rule on the BBI case on Friday.

In May, High Court Justices Joel Ngugi, George Odunga, Jairus Ngaah, Teresia Matheka, and Chacha Mwita declared the entire BBI process null and void.

The judges argued that President Kenyatta violated the Constitution by initiating a popular initiative.

They also declared that the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) was not properly constituted as it lacked the requisite quorum of five commissioners to make any major policy decision and that the BBI steering committee was unlawful and had no legal capacity to promote constitutional changes.