Lawyers of President Uhuru Kenyatta, led by Solicitor General Ken Ogeto have told the Court of Appeal President Uhuru Kenyatta was not a promoter of the BBI, as it had been declared by the five-bench judge High Court ruling last month. Instead, Lawyer Ogeto says ODM leader Raila Odinga has been one of the main promoters of the BBI and not the Head of State as earlier claimed by the High Court.
While presenting his submissions before the higher court bench led by Justice Daniel Musinga, the solicitor general said the president has never played a role in the constitutional amendment process and it was a factual error on the part of the court.
”They (judges) ignored the evidence as to who the promoters of the bill were and were keen on personalised attacks against the person of the President. To them, the facts and the law did not matter, nor the sovereign will of the people,” the lawyer told the Court of Appeal. The solicitor general was backed by Attorney General Paul Kihara who told the court Raila Odinga is not part of the government but was one of the main drivers of the BBI process, with Uhuru Kenyatta appearing occasionally to drum up his support for the initiative.
AG Kihara has also questioned what law the five-judge High Court bench used to find President Uhuru had breached Chapter Six of the Constitution. He argues if the High Court’s verdict is allowed to stand, the President and the presidency would be open to a multiplicity of legal proceedings thus impairing the performance of his functions.
The government secured the first win earlier in the session after the judges struck out part of an appeal filed by Nairobi lawyer Charles Kanjama.
Court of Appeal president, Justice Daniel Musinga, appointed the seven-judge bench to hear and determine five appeals filed against the High Court ruling.
Justice Musinga is the presiding judge on the bench that will determine the fate of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s BBI. Others are Justices Roselyne Nambuye, Hannah Okwengu, Patrick Kiage, Gatembu Kairu, Fatuma Sichale, and Francis Tuiyott.
