Don’t dismiss BBI before report is out, Peter Munya tells critics

Trade Cabinet Secretary Peter Munya has told off critics of the findings of the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI), urging them wait for the content to be made public before dismissing it.

He said the findings were consolidated from views from across the country in a bid to offer solutions to the recurrent post-election violence and would mainly benefit people from Mt Kenya living in other regions.

Speaking during a wedding ceremony at Nchuui Primary School on Saturday, Mr Munya said the findings will ensure peaceful co-existence among Kenyans'.

ELECTIONS

“Whenever we have elections, economic activities are stalled because of fights. Jobs are lost and our economy suffers. Traders in Kisumu just want peace to go about their activities whether there is an election or there is none… Any Kenyan in Eldoret is only interested in going about his farming whether there is an election or not,” he said.

His support for the BBI comes at a time when several MPs from Meru allied to Deputy President William Ruto have opposed its secretariat’s work.

Buuri MP Mugambi Rindikiri, Ms Halima Mucheke (nominated), Mr Kirima Nguchine (Central Imenti) and Josphat Kabeabea (Tigania East) have all voiced their opposition to any constitutional changes.

WAIT FOR REPORT

Mr Munya said BBI was formed by President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM leader Raila Odinga in a bid to end the cycle of fights during elections.

“The report is not theirs, it is what Kenyans are saying. There are people who have already dismissed it yet they have not even seen it. How can you reject something you have not seen?” he wondered.

Mr Munya said leaders will scrutinise the document once it is made public before presenting it to Kenyans.

“You cannot tell us that BBI is about creating a seat for someone yet you are also campaigning. We cannot base our arguments on polls yet during elections, there are people who never benefit from the polls,” he told the residents.

Mr Munya said he is currently working together and his former arch-rival Mpuru Aburi “in the spirit of handshake”.