ODM lost big in BBI and must change tact

The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party has lost in the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) thing in different aspects and may lose even bigger.

It is all over the place that the Orange party has been advocating for a powerful prime minister, but the BBI report launched at the Bomas of Kenya recently gave them a raw deal.

It proposes a ceremonial premier who will be elected by Parliament and appointed by the president. He or she can also be sacked by the two.

The most embarrassing thing maybe, for the Orange party, is the aspect of making the prospective PM vie for a parliamentary seat.

The party was also keen for the report to provide for two deputy prime ministers to spread leadership and accommodate senior politicians. This failed too. They wanted the slots to absorb senior politicians and expand the Executive to forge a face of Kenya.

ODM is now pushing for a referendum, but as all can see this path is getting murky. Kenyans seem tired with cycle after cycle of elections. They want food on their tables, jobs, better schools and the like.

The people are also mad at the thought of an expanded executive, which I gather ODM is pushing for in amends to the report.

At the end of the day, the document is largely viewed by the public as politician-driven rather than a mwananchi-driven. It will likely collapse with ODM, if they don’t tread carefully.

Andrew Toboso is former Butere MP