Ndaragwa MP Jeremiah Kioni has claimed that Kenya has long evolved past the era where mwananchi would be told to reject government initiatives without proper analysis. The legislator was speaking on K24 TV’s political show Punchline show, where he had appeared alongside constitutional lawyer and political analyst James Mamboleo.
”When the document is out and we get a chance to see what it contains, we should be able to convince Kenyans on the basis of the content. For now, the detractors are just saying: when it comes defeat it! However, I believe that such rhetoric may have worked only in the past. Today, Kenyans may want to know what they are being urged to throw away.” said the Ndaragwa MP.
Lawyer James Mamboleo mirrored the legislator’s sentiments, arguing that once the document was unveiled, all Kenyans would have a stake in it. He agreed that politics was going to play a big role on the reception of the document, but insisted that the proposals contained in the BBI would appeal to all Kenyans. The two guests were discussing the merits of the BBI process in the context of the anticipated release of the final BBI report containing various proposals and recommendations for constitutional change.
”There are a number of views which came from Kenyans with respect to an audit that they have done themselves in the last ten years about how this Constitution works. For instance, you have seen that when it comes to counties, we have had a big conundrum on the question of how to appoint deputy governors. Therefore, we expect to see a Bill very soon that will actually try remedy such scenarios. We have also seen people coming up with suggestions on how we can better manage devolved functions of health. There are those who are suggesting, for instance, that the human resource function in the health docket should be left to an institution that is independent. There are also those who suggested that in the BBI process that we should get something akin to the health service in the UK and get a National Health Commission,” argued lawyer Mamboleo.
The Ndaragwa legislator also said that the Head of State was the ideal face of the BBI process, just like former President Mwai Kibaki spearheaded constitutional change in 2010, ”The President would not want to sit back and entrust this process to another person,” he said.
Punchline host Anne Kiguta had at the beginning of the show sparked controversy when she revealed on air that she had differed with k24 TV’s management over a decision on whether to host Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro on Sunday night. She issued an apology to the viewers of the show and said that as is the norm, ‘management reserves the right to admission.’
On #Punchline tonight, @AnneKiguta will be joined by Ndindi Nyoro (Kiharu MP), Jeremiah Kioni (Ndaragwa Mp) and James Mamboleo (Constitutional Lawyer) as we discuss the issue on BBI & Kenyatta's Succession at 9PM @NdindiNyoro @JeremiahKioni @mamboleojames @machariamuhoho pic.twitter.com/frhko4XpAi
— K24 TV (@K24Tv) October 18, 2020
I said, what I SAID. This is still #Punchline. pic.twitter.com/FysLOaNUEs
— Anne Kiguta (@AnneKiguta) October 18, 2020
Below are part 1 and part 2 of the interview:
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