Catholic bishops yesterday gave assurance that they are not opposed to the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) but maintained that sections which have not attracted controversy should be subjected to a referendum.

Through the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB), the clergy said the burning question should be on how to carry forward the referendum process without injuring the reputation of the country as a democratic State, even as they called for sustained dialogue on BBI.

Speaking yesterday, KCCB Chairman, Rev Phillip Anyolo, who read the statement on behalf of the bishops, said it is important that the country forges ahead and the differences in political orientation should not result into ethnic hatred and  hate speech.

“We urge Kenyans to heed to our call to pursue paths that lead us to unity for a better Kenya to avoid paths of confrontation and discord,” said Anyolo, who spoke after a KCCB meeting in Nairobi.

Men of the cloth said emphasis should be laid on proposals that will not have serious ramifications to the peace Kenyans are enjoying and progressively deal with other issues such as on structure of governance.

“Let us embrace dialogue to achieve the goals for which BBI spirit sought at the beginning.

Like we said last month, we propose a continued focus on consensus building to bring everyone on board,” he added. 

In Machakos, allies of Deputy President William  Ruto maintained their hard stance against BBI, instead pushing for consensus on several clauses.

This effectively widened the split among Ukambani leaders with other politicians, notably former Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka, Governors Alfred Mutua (Machakos)  and Charity Ngilu of Kitui  rallying sup