Referendum: Take your time to read Punguza bill, urges Aukot

Thirdway Alliance party leader Ekuru Aukot yesterday toured the political backyard of Opposition leader Raila Odinga to popularise the Punguza Mizigo bill.

Aukot’s visit in the lakeside city comes barely a week after the former Prime Minister urged his supporters to reject the bill and wait for the report to be prepared by the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) taskforce.

Raila said Aukot’s bill was not consultative compared to one that will be prepared by the Yusuf Haji led team which has traversed the country collecting people’s views.

“Wait for what the team will come up with thereafter, we decide which way, but for Punguza Mizigo bill, you should reject it because it does not mean well for Kenya,” he said during the burial of Mama Eva Donde, mother to former Gem MP Joe Donde, in Gem constituency last Saturday.

Not in competition 

Wiper Democratic Movement party leader Kalonzo Musyoka and his Ford Kenya counterpart Moses Wetang’ula have also urged their supporters to reject the bill.

Some Jubilee leaders are, however, divided on whether to support or reject the bill.

But , Aukot said he was not in competition with any political leader in regard to the bill.

 “My coming to Kisumu should not be seen as a competition with Raila but rather a visit to a region where there are Kenyans who are also feeling the pain that we are fighting for,” he said.

Aukot reiterated his earlier stand that BBI was illegal since it was not anchored in law.

  “We collected signatures as per the law and presented them to the Indepedent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) for approval and so the proponents of BBI should know it is them who are illegal and not us,” Aukot said.

He accused some leaders of spreading propaganda against the bill and discouraging Kenyans to read it.

 “Most of the leaders who are busy criticising the bill have not even read it and what they do is to talk negatively about it,” he added.