The Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) amendment bill risks being thrown out after it emerged that a majority of the County Assemblies debated and endorsed the wrong format.
Reports now indicate that only 13 counties received the correct format of the bill while 34 passed the wrong format of the bill.
43 counties overwhelmingly supported the bill and transmitted it to the National Assembly.
The Joint Justice and Legal Affairs Committee yesterday, April 20, established that the National Assembly and the Senate received two separate bills.
Insiders revealed that only the Senate received the format certified by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
The committee is now at crossroads in a bid to harmonise the three different formats of the BBI bill.
In the report received by the National Assembly, clause 13(B) references to clause 2 of the bill, in the Senate, clause 13 (B) references to clause 3. Experts warned that the correct reference is clause 2 as there is no clause 3 in the article 97 in question.
There is an error in the marginal note that amends article 188, however, the substantive provision relates to article 189.
The report further notes that paragraph 1 (1) of the National Assembly document references to article 89 (7) while that of the Senate references to article 87 (7). Experts say the correct reference is article 89 (7).
The BBI secretariat had hoped to have the referendum held in August, however, these plans appears to have hit a snag.
The committee indicated that amending the entire BBI bill will be a near-impossible endeavor, raising questions of whether it will be upheld or thrashed.
Counties that debated the correct format include; Mandera, Meru, Tharaka Nithi, Embu, Nyandarua, Nyeri, Murang’a, Kiambu, Turkana, Elgeyo Marakwet, Laikipia, Nakuru, and Siaya.
The experts report, however, gives parliament a the ability to correct the form and typo issues in the bill.
