Francis Atwoli and the Making of the BBI

The Central Organisation of Trade Unions (COTU) Secretary General Francis Atwoli. [Standard]

Whichever way one interprets the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI), the March 9, 2018 handshake between Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila Odinga – two perennial antagonists who occupy Kenya’s opposite political extremities - was a significant, defining moment with potential implications for the future of the country.

What remains to be seen, after so many false starts and multiple governance experimentation raging from the single-party model to multi-partyism; from the old constitution to a new one and from a centralised form to devolved units, is whether the eureka moment has finally arrived which will bring about “comprehensive changes that will strengthen the rule of law, unite Kenyans, deepen our constitutionalism and launch a comprehensive reform process to consolidate this momentous opportunity”, to quote the official BBI website. The main test remains whether the BBI will succeed in bringing an end to perennial ethnic competition and antagonism that almost always precedes national elections.