US supports implementation of BBI report for Kenya's unity
Monday December 16 2019
US ambassador to Kenya Kyle McCarter during an interview at Fairmont Mt Kenya Safari Club in Nanyuki on November 5, 2019. He says the US government will support implementation of the BBI report in Kenya. PHOTO | POOL | US EMBASSY
The United States government will support implementation of the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) report to ensure unity before the next election, ambassador Kyle McCarter has said.
Speaking in Nandi County, in the Rift Valley, on Monday, the US envoy noted that Kenya's unity is key.
President Uhuru Kenyatta launched the report of the Building Bridges Initiative Taskforce on November 27, following consultations on Kenya's future after the prolonged election season in 2017.
The initiative, mooted following the March 2018 pact between President Kenyatta and Orange Democratic Movement Raila Odinga, promises to create a new political dispensation.
The taskforce was gazetted in March 2018 with the mandate expiring on October 23, but the President has extended its tenure so that its recommendations are turned into the legal policy and administrative measures required for implementation..
"GREAT FRIEND"
Mr McCarter termed the report a "good document" that will make Kenya more united once its recommendations are implemented.
“The Unites States is a great friend of Kenya and although I do not agree with all details in the BBI, the USA fully supports it for Kenya to remain a united country," he said, and also expressed support for devolution.
The ambassador inspected development projects accompanied by the Nandi Deputy Governor Yulita Mitei, Health Executive Ruth Koech and Land Executive Philemon Bureti.
SPLIT
The report has caused a split among politicians, some saying a referendum should follow and others agitating for the parliamentary route to its implementation.
Church leaders in Nandi have urged the government to make copies of the report available to Kenyans and warned politicians against using it to divide the people ahead of the next general election in 2022.
Anglican Church of Kenya bishops, Paul Korir (Kapsabet) and Emmanuel Kimengich (Kitale), said Kenya is heading in the wrong direction because senior political leaders from major parties are taking hard-line positions on the BBI report.
“Both President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy William Ruto and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga should ensure the Kenya remained united ahead of the 2022 elections,” Bishop Korir said.
Bishop Korir asked the President and Deputy President William Ruto to bury their differences to prevent tension.
Bishop Kimengich said, “The Church will no longer remain silent as top leaders are fighting each other while the economy is in a mess. Farmers are being exploited due to massive imports of agriculture products which could be produced in Kenya."