A four-day court of appeal hearing in a bid to amend Kenya’s constitution begins on Tuesday in Nairobi.

President Uhuru Kenyatta, former Prime Minister Raila Odinga as well as other supporters of a bid to change the constitution ahead of elections next year are hoping that the court of appeal will intervene and stop the implementation of the High Court decision that stopped the push to amend the 10-year law.

The High Court had found that the President overstepped his mandate and broke the law, in particular Chapter Six of the current constitution, when he initiated and promoted a constitutional change.

The High Court also found that the committee that led the process of changing the law is illegal. Proponents of the change, popularly known in Kenya as the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI), which followed a truce between Kenyatta and Odinga after the disputed 2017 presidential polls hoped the appellate court will salvage the process in time for the country to vote on the draft in a referendum ahead of elections next year.

Building Bridges Initiative bill passes Kenya’s County Assemblies

Kenya is firmly on the road to a referendum on the new constitution after more than 24 County assemblies passed the Constitution Amendment Bill paving the way for the mini plebiscite, a key agreement of the political truce between President Uhuru Kenyatta and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga.
The bill will reintroduce the position of the Prime Minister, two deputies and increase the number of parliamentary seats.