With the ban of Busia Senator Amos Wako from visiting the United States of America over graft claims, the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) could be headed for tougher days ahead.
Wako is a member of the BBI taskforce, picked by President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM boss Raila Odinga to propose remedies to the nation's recurrent leadership and political issues.
Therefore, this comes as a blow to the entire BBI issue, as it will only attract unnecessary attention to the remaining members, which could see more found with bad records.
The critics of the BBI, including allies of Deputy President William Ruto, now have another ground on which to incite more Kenyans against the BBI report and its aftermath.
Should the BBI report propose a referendum, the critics will be in a better situation to oppose it, arguing that some of the people who made the proposal lack the moral authority to do so.
Riding on Wako's ban, it will be easy to convince Kenyans to reject it, on grounds that some of the people behind it are corrupt and cannot, therefore, tell Kenyans what to do.
At the same time, this will raise questions on Raila's input in the BBI, given that Wako belongs to his side of the BBI taskforce team, and his commitment to the fight against corruption.
This will come as the second failed test for Raila on this issue, given that only weeks ago his allies were telling Kibra residents to pick money from Jubilee Party candidate McDonald Mariga.
Raila was not at any point heard condemning his allies who coined the "Kula kwa Mariga, Kura kwa Imran" ideology, which brings him out as not fully in support of the fight against corruption.
And coming at a time when Kenyans would do anything to slay the corruption dragon, many might reject the BBI on grounds that he is among the leading figures in the initiative.
But also, this could be the start of the BBI's success, as its critics are likely to dwell on the Wako issue more, leaving out ideological weapons that would be more effective.
It's very likely that they will only speak about the Wako part, while the supporters of the initiative continue drumming up support for it on grounds of how it seeks to reunite all Kenyans.
In a country where people even elect candidates fresh from multi-billion scandal implications, it is probable that a good number will have forgotten about the Wako issue by the time the referendum comes.
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