A number of issues sparked a nationwide uproar, from the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) to the high cost of living, taxation, government’s loan intake to militarisation.
BBI crusade
Kenyans ganged up against President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM leader Raila Odinga’s call to amend the Constitution through the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI). Following anti-BBI calls on social media, civil rights leaders and lawyers came together to challenge the proposals in court.
A High Court bench comprising Justices Joel Ngugi, George Odunga, Jairus Ngaah, Teresia Matheka and Chacha Mwita upheld a consolidated case by eight petitioners that the Constitution bears essential features on its basic structure that cannot be amended.
The BBI secretariat and steering committee was faulted for not providing critical information to the public as outlined in the procedures to amend the constitution through a popular initiative.
The judges held that the BBI steering committee was unlawful, had no legal capacity to promote constitutional changes and thus the entire BBI process was done unconstitutionally.
“BBI is hereby declared null and void,†the High Court ruled and the Court of Appeal further upheld the decision. Pro-BBI team moved to the Supreme Court seeking to overturn the two lower court’s decisions.
Chief Justice Martha Koome directed that the case be heard for three consecutive days, Tuesday, January 18 to Thursday, January 20, 2022.
Electricity, Fuel Prices Hike
Kenyans paid up to Ksh26.57 per unit of power in September 2021, the highest price in the last five years. The increase in electricity prices raised the cost of living, further complicating the situation.
The country was up in arms as this was the highest cost of electricity per unit on record since the review of the schedule of tariffs conducted by the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) in November of 2018.
After a public uproar by Kenyans on the high cost of electricity, President Uhuru Kenyatta on September 29 launched a task force report that recommended the reduction of the cost of electricity by 33 per cent within four months.
However, the implementation of the recommendations of the Presidential Taskforce on Review of Power Purchase formed in March did not materialise as expected.
The Head of State revealed that 15 per cent would be achieved by the end of December with the other 15 per cent effected during the first three months of 2022. The directive was finally enforced on December 16.
IMF loans
Kenyans raised concerns with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) after it granted the government a Ksh255 billion loan.
A section of Kenyans flooded the Fund’s social media pages to protest the approval of the loan with the hashtag #stoplendingKenya. Those opposed to the grant claimed that the funds were only accessed by a certain clique of government officials.
The hashtag which began on the evening of Sunday, April 4, 2021, attracted many Kenyans including key public figures in the country. The underlying concern for Kenyans was that the president himself admitted that Kenya loses at least Ksh2 billion every day to graft and theft.
Based on this shocking admission by the president, a number of Kenyans wondered how long it would take the IMF loan to be misappropriated.
This merited a sharp reaction from the IMF who demanded to know who the beneficiaries of the Covid-19 billions were. IMF asked Kenya to speedily reveal the names of individuals who own firms that supplied Covid-19 equipment to the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (Kemsa).
The global lender warned that Kenya would lose the deal if it did not meet the conditions stipulated by the financial institution. This prompted President Kenyatta to order restructuring and mass layoff at Kemsa.
Militarisation
President Uhuru Kenyatta’s decision to appoint military men to senior posts in government also earned him criticism. A section of Kenyans questioned why the President was posting military men to senior government posts.
The Head of State explained that officials from the discipline forces have proven to be worthy of managing some of the parastatals while fighting graft at the same time.
Uhuru lauded Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) for reviving Kenya Meat Commission (KMC) saying the Government’s decision to transfer the meat processor to the Ministry of Defence was aimed at salvaging the livestock sector which is a mainstay for millions of Kenyans.
He expressed optimism that KDF will be able to pay farmers and other suppliers in time thus solving one of the greatest challenges KMC faced before.
Pandora papers
President Kenyatta found himself on the receiving end after leaked financial documents dubbed the Pandora Papers were made public by the International Consortium for Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).
On Monday, October 4, the world woke up to a massive trove of private financial records that exposed the secretive offshore accounts used to hide billions of dollars from tax authorities.
The revelations were part of a close to 12 million files titled The Pandora Papers. The report linked Uhuru’s family to offshore bank accounts and companies valued at over Ksh3.3 billion.
The papers further detailed that the Kenyatta family, Mama Ngina Kenyatta, Uhuru, his sisters and brothers amassed offshore wealth in Panama and the British Virgin Islands.
The exposé broke the internet with the #Ksh3.5 trillion, #PandoraPapers, trending across the globe. In Kenya, #client 13173 – a code used by Swiss advisors in Panama to refer to the Kenyatta family. A section of Uhuru’s allies claimed that the report created a paradigm shift within the political scene.
Source: KENYAGIST.COM